Parents in Ireland say they face substantial costs in getting their children ready to return to school each September, with basic costs range from €340-€735 per pupil.
A new survey by Barnardos has found that 8% of primary and 14% of secondary school parents are forced to borrow money to cover school costs.
At the same time, some 42% of primary school parents and 47% of secondary school parents say they forgo paying bills and cut back on other spends to meet the costs of returning to school.
It costs an average basic cost of €340 to send a senior infant pupil to school in 2019, while a fourth class pupil is €380 and a first year pupil is €735.
The Barnardos charity has called for cost-cutting measures to be introduced, such as free school books, adequate funding for schools to end the need for free school books and non-crested uniforms.
In a response, the Minister for Education Joe McHugh has said that efforts are being made by the Government to support parents and families with back to school costs.
Minister McHugh said: “The Government is committed to tackling back to school costs.
“As part of our efforts on that front I am making final preparations to publish the Student and Parent Charter Bill. It is an important piece of legislation and it will offer significant reform in how school management engages with the school community.
“One of its key initiatives will be to allow students and mothers and fathers have a say on many aspects of life in a school. Costs will be a significant topic.”
The Donegal Minister said that the School Books Grant Scheme is available to all recognised primary and post primary schools within the Free Education Scheme.
“Almost €17million in funding was provided to schools in 2018 for this book scheme. It is aimed at pupils whose families are on low incomes or experience financial hardship. The grant can be used to set up a book rental scheme within the school or to help individual students buy books and all schools are encouraged to operate such a scheme.”
Minister McHugh also said his Department is working to promote measures to reduce uniform costs and welcomed an increase in the back to school allowance for the 2019/2020 school year by €25.
