No uniform solution to school costs

The costs involved in sending children to school remain onerous, with parents having to cover the outlay for books, outfits, transport and contributions

OUR SUPPOSEDLY free education system actually costs a packet – and in the weeks ahead many families will have little change from €500 once they have kitted out each little darling heading out the door to school.

At this time of year surveys on back-to-school costs come thick and fast – all of them making for depressing reading.

First out of the blocks in recent weeks was children’s charity Barnardos, which reported back-to-school costs remain stubbornly high across the Republic. It found that in some cases they have remained stable or fallen slightly since 2011, but that parents continue to struggle to meet schools’ demands with increasingly stretched household incomes.

It said the average cost of attending school for a child in senior infants is now €355, climbing to €390 for children in fourth class and €770 for a child entering first year in secondary school.

School books and uniforms continue to pose the highest costs to parents, although voluntary contributions and school transport costs also weigh heavily on parents’ budgets.

The survey found 23 per cent of parents are paying between €76 and €100 for a uniform for their primary school-going children, while 18 per cent are paying between €101 and €125.

When it comes to secondary school uniforms, costs climb. Seventeen per cent of parents in this group were paying €150-€174, while a similar amount are spending between €175 and €200.

The survey found 15 per cent were spending more than €250 on uniforms.

“Each year in Barnardos’ school costs survey, parents express their frustration at the high cost of sending children to school. This year, however, the parents who responded to our survey are also showing real fear and concern at how they are going to make sure their children have what they need to get an education,” said Barnardos chief executive Fergus Finlay.

A separate study by the National Consumer Agency echoed the Barnardos findings. Back-to-school costs were estimated by parents at €487 for primary school children and €620 for those at secondary level.

Research carried out for the National Consumer Agency, meanwhile, found 78 per cent of parents were more concerned about equipping their children for school this year than they were last year.

“Based on our research, a family of four with one primary- and one secondary-level child could have to pay up to €1,100 on average just to send their children back to school this year,” agency chief executive Ann Fitzgerald said.

“Spending this amount of money on back-to-school costs is a significant financial pressure for most parents, especially those who may be already struggling financially,” she said.

But how could uniforms cost so much when they can be picked up for so little? Earlier this month, Aldi was selling school uniforms very cheaply. A pair of trousers cost €2, while two plain polo shirts were €1.25 and a round neck sweater was just €1.75. A pleated skirt, meanwhile, cost €2 while a twin-pack of white shirts was a fiver.

While Penneys and Dunnes Stores are not so cheap, they are still offering very good value and have the added advantage of having more of the stock to sell. Aldi’s deal was part of its one-off special buy offers.

One of the problems is that authorities at many schools still insist children who walk through their doors buy uniforms at certain outfitters who charge a serious premium. While a plain jumper bought in Dunnes Stores costs less than €10, one carrying a school’s official crest can cost at least three times that amount.

Last year, Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn said he was looking at the possibility of eliminating the requirement for parents to buy uniforms from specific shops to permit the purchase of generic “grey, blue, green and red uniforms”, which can be sold for a fraction of the cost at large retail outlets. He told the Dáil that if schools “confined themselves to selling their badge or emblem, we could seriously address the cost issues”.

Eminently sensible stuff. So, 12 months on, what has been done? Not very much at all. Pricewatch contacted the Department of Education and asked how the Minister was getting with proposals to remove the requirement for parents to buy uniforms from specific shops.

In response, we were told that while the Minister has “clearly signalled his support for any measures that can reduce uniform costs for parents, including measures such as the use of generic-type uniforms or the use of sew-on crests or school badges”, any such arrangements would have to be made between school authorities and parents.

The department said it could not oblige schools or their patrons to adopt a particular uniform policy. “It is important that schools are sensitive to the financial pressures on parents in making decisions, not just about school uniforms but about any matter that has cost implications for parents,” a spokeswoman said.

Last year, Quinn said he was “exploring” schemes to cut the cost of books by reducing the necessity for editions being revised on a regular basis.

There has been more progress on this score. Since taking office he has met representatives of the main educational publishers several times, along with the Society of St Vincent de Paul and the National Parents’ Councils.

As a result of the meetings, the main educational publishers have now agreed to a code of practice designed to reduce the cost of textbooks for parents and schools.

Under the code, publishers have made a commitment to maintain new editions of textbooks in print for a minimum of six years and to co-operate with individual schools to develop book rental schemes and offer significant discounts for schools to purchase books in bulk for book rental schemes.

Barnardos have welcomed the code of practice but said indications from the school costs survey were that parents are not yet seeing its impact.

Another scheme many parents have come to rely on is the back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance.

The Department of Social Protection is handling 1,700 applications a day for the allowance, which is worth €150 for primary schoolchildren and €250 for secondary students. This is on top of the 115,000 families on social welfare who get the payments automatically.

Applications for the means-tested scheme will be accepted until the end of September. So far, 47,000 applications have been received by the department.

More than 19,000 of these have been processed, with 17,000 qualifying.

‘Voluntary’ contribution: A vexatious irritation?

One issue that Ruairí Quinn or any other minister for education is unlikely to ever want to deal with in a meaningful way is the so-called voluntary contribution that is now a requirement in many of our schools.

Government will shy away from it because it is their fault. As a result of dramatic funding cuts, many schools have no choice but to impose this “voluntary” charge.

The Irish League of Credit Unions say 75 per cent of parents were asked to make voluntary contributions last year, with the average sum sought being €130.

It is hard not to have sympathy for schools which have had their budgets slashed. They must do all they can to plug the gap with help from parents – but the name and nature of the voluntary contribution irritates many parents.

We asked for parents’ views on Twitter last week and the reaction was mixed but mostly cross. One respondent said he had no problem with giving a contribution, “but have a difficulty calling it voluntary. It isn’t voluntary, it is a fee”.

Another said he was paying €40 for his children in primary school and an eye-watering €300 per child in secondary school. “I think €300 is a bit much! But no choice – not really voluntary. Feel pressured,” he responded.

A third parent with four children in school is paying a total of €575 in voluntary contributions, as well as €750 to cover books and uniforms.

Another reader in Cavan said there was no voluntary contribution to cover her four boys attending primary school. “The book rental scheme is a godsend too,” she posted.

A weighty subject: Brought to book

The cost of school books can weigh heavily on the minds of parents – and the bags weigh even heavier on the backs of students – but the days of the venerable school book itself appear to be numbered.

Several schools around the country have set about replacing books with laptops. One in Co Mayo has surfed even closer to the zeitgeist, last year replacing books with iPads for first-year students.

St Colman’s College in Claremorris is now in the second year of its iPad project. Last September, its 60 first-year students were given the option of using the iPad instead of a bag full of school books. The parents of 54 of the students signed up to the scheme, with the remainder rejecting the notion on what are said to be “philosophical grounds”.

The iPads came with educational apps pre-installed and cost €700 last year. The price for this year’s first years will be €620, as the cost of the apps has fallen. But whether it is €700 or €620, it is still by any measure a lot of money.

If, however, the cost is spread over the three-year period until the students finish their Junior Cert, it is probably cheaper than books – and considerably more interactive. The school has said the benefits far outweigh the cost, which can be covered with loans on offer from a local credit union.

Tablet computers can also take a load off students’ backs. While the iPad weighs 0.7kg, an average bag of secondary school books weighs more than 10kg. But what happens if you break or lose an iPad? The school says none of the tablets have been lost so far, while three have had the glass front cracked and one has been replaced under warranty.

Then there are e-books. This month, Amazon.comannounced sales of books for its Kindle had outstripped regular book sales for the first time and the trend towards e-school books is also gathering pace. E-books for school children are about 30 per cent cheaper than regular dead-wood versions and would be cheaper again if they did not attract VAT.