Are voluntary school payments by parents becoming a form of fee?

Schools are struggling to meet their bills, some are on the brink of closure, and the State’s capitation fees are wholly inadequate.

Is this the latest beef from the teacher unions? No. The stark warning comes from an unexpected source: within the Department of Education and Skills. This month, officials told the new Minister, Jan O'Sullivan, that schools can't handle any more cutbacks. Since 2011, the capitation grant has fallen from €200 per pupil to €173 – an 11 per cent drop. At the same time, hard-pressed parents are increasingly being asked by schools to meet the shortfall – and this is causing tension.

More than any other cost in Ireland’s supposedly free education system, it’s the “voluntary contribution” that incenses parents. Parent representative groups and children’s charity Barnardos say it is anything but voluntary, with schools often using strong-arm tactics to get money.

School management and teacher unions say the Irish education system is grossly underfunded and they hate asking parents for money, but have little choice – a position recently acknowledged by the department. One school told The Irish Times its classrooms have, several times, probably been unacceptably cold – it's not financially possible to have heat on when needed. In a 1978 circular, schools were advised that if the temperature in the classroom falls below 16 degrees, students should be sent home and teachers do not have to stay in the classroom; although this is perhaps impractical for parents, schools remain aware of the instruction.

Burden on parents

Parents say they can’t continue to cover basic school costs. In June 2013, the

Tackling Back to School Costs,

a Joint Committee on Education and Social Protection

Report

, said the price of textbooks, uniforms, voluntary contributions and other expenses place “an unfair and prohibitive burden on parents”. In particular, the report said “the practice of requesting ‘voluntary’ contributions should be greatly discouraged, if not completely prohibited”.

Children’s charity Barnardos has published a survey on education costs since 2006, highlighting the financial pressure on parents of schoolgoing children. This year, a survey of over 2,000 parents estimated the cost of primary school at €345-€380. First year in secondary school costs an average of €735.

There is some progress. The cost of uniforms is levelling off and a voluntary code for schoolbook publishers to minimise costly new editions, has had some effect. But voluntary contributions remain and, despite the promise of a new Parents and Students Charter from the Minister for Education during this school year, it is difficult to see this changing soon.

A department spokeswoman said voluntary contributions are only permissible if it’s absolutely clear to parents there is no compulsion and contributions are made of parents’ own volition. “Their collection should be such as not to create a situation where either parents or pupils could reasonably infer that the contributions take on a compulsory character,” she said.

This seems to fly in the face of the experience. Barnardos found huge variations in the levels of voluntary contributions, particularly at primary school, which range from €50-€150 per child. Some parents also report tactics to pressure them to pay, including preventing access to lockers, denying participation in art classes or sending letters home to them.

Insufficiently funded

“Barnardos believes parents should not be expected to make up the shortfall because schools are insufficiently funded,” says June Tinsley, head of advocacy. “Instead the Government must prioritise education and adequately fund schools to allow them to function properly.”

Áine Lynch, director of the National Parents’ Council (Primary), has campaigned against voluntary contributions for years. “We are concerned that in a significant number of schools the voluntary contribution is not seen as voluntary,” she says. Parents have told the NPC these contributions are often referred to as fees and levies rather than a voluntary contribution and that some schools say enrolment is dependent on an upfront payment. This is a breach of guidelines and may even be illegal.

An Economic and Social Research Institute report last year indicated religious-run voluntary secondary schools are more dependent on voluntary contributions. Almost 90 per cent get voluntary contributions, compared to just over 60 per cent of community and comprehensive schools and half of vocational schools. Community/comprehensive/voluntary schools usually ask for € 50-€74, some 33 per cent of voluntary secondary schools ask for at least €150, while a further 20 per cent of voluntary secondaries request at least €200 a year. The report highlighted a lack of transparency in how the three different models of secondary school are funded and said voluntary contributions are not sustainable.

The Irish Times asked some schools if they seek a contribution, whether parents generally pay it, and what the money is used for. CBS New Ross, a co-ed Catholic voluntary school in Wexford, asks parents for €100, which hasn't changed for three years. About 70 per cent of parents pay, and it goes into a general school account.

A primary school in Co Wicklow with over 500 pupils says it has a 25 per cent yearly shortfall in running costs. “Schools are under pressure financially, and this school certainly is,” says the principal (who has asked not to be named to protect families’ privacy). “We have a broad social mix and are not a designated DEIS [disadvantaged] school. But at least 25 per cent of our pupils are highly dependent on State support. Children in this school have gone to bed hungry, or come into school without breakfast. It’s an increasing problem.”

The school requests a voluntary contribution of €84 per year, which many pay in €7 monthly instalments. This fell from €90 two years ago. About 43 per cent of families contributed last year. “The money is used to cover the shortfall in our running costs: insurance, gas and electricity, water charges and cleaning. In addition, we still need to fundraise throughout the year for all sorts of things – mostly capital costs. Last year, for example, we bought IT equipment to upgrade ageing stock.”

The principal says free education disappeared a long time ago. “It’s easy to provide free resources in education if all you need is chalk, talk and a few books and copies. That was the 19th century. If we want to provide 21st-century education that aims, in the words of the 1997 primary school curriculum, to ‘enable the child to live a full life and to realise his or her potential as a unique individual’, we need to put in place the conditions to provide for this. Our school board, staff and parents do a fantastic job in ensuring that standards are maintained, but it’s not sustainable.”

Anne McCluskey, principal of Our Lady of the Wayside, a DEIS school in Bluebell, Dublin 12, is an advocate for schools and families in disadvantaged areas, Her school doesn’t ask for a contribution. In 2011 and 2012, the school faced financial difficulties. Some parents proposed the school ask for €2 a week per family from the 75 families. “We did take in half of that for two months and the money was used to pay utility bills, but then it dwindled and we didn’t pursue it,” she says. “The make or break has been the removal of the minor works grant. It’s just under €8,000 but we cannot manage utilities without it.”

One-off payment?

Last November, the department delivered an early Christmas present: unexpectedly, the grant was paid to schools. But it’s uncertain whether this was a one-off.

McCluskey says schools should be free to focus on children, but that instead of working on literacy, school self-evaluation, the continuous professional development of teachers and anti-bullying programmes, principals are scrambling for funds just to keep the school doors open.

Whether or not parents are asked – or pushed – to make a contribution depends largely on chance. Some schools rely on it but don’t put pressure on parents; others who might be able to make do without it may make it difficult for parents to say no.

The department's briefing notes for the Minister hint more funding may be found for schools in the budget. In the meantime, the recommendations on voluntary contributions from last year's Oireachtas Report on Tackling School Costs haven't been implemented, and the momentum seems to have passed. It's likely that, unless schools feel they have enough money from other sources, they're here to stay.

How voluntary contributions are often used

Gaelcholáiste Luimnigh, a post-primary school under the patronage of the local Education and Training Board, has asked parents for an annual contribution of €250 per student or €300 per family since the school opened in 2006. School principal Donncha Ó Treasaigh says this is one of the lowest school contribution requests in the county and the majority of parents pay it. The money is used to fund the rent of the canteen, library and dressing rooms; ICT equipment; extra-curricular activities including bus hire; furniture; first aid equipment; lockers; musical instruments; and guest speakers. In a letter to parents, Ó Treasaigh says the contribution is only requested if a family is felt able to pay it, but that parents or guardians can also contact him privately to make alternative arrangements.

An all-boys primary school in north county Dublin, which has just over 208 pupils, says they do not have a voluntary contribution and never have. “We charge a stationery fee of €40 in September and find that it is difficult to even have that paid by every family. As we are not a DEIS school, we rely on fundraising for many of the other overheads, such as swimming and classroom resources in the school,” says the principal.