School trips - a learning curve or just sloping off?

More schools are bringing their students on trips to France, Spain and the ski slopes, and parents are having to fork out for these expensive jaunts. But do students learn anything from these school excursions?

Four out of five Irish post-primary schools now take students on a tour overseas. Up to half of all schools offer students a choice of two foreign tours each year. Even the primary sector is getting in on the act: 15 per cent of primary schools are offering trips to the UK, Europe and beyond.

As parents dig deep for yet another add-on to the expensive business of schooling, they must surely be asking what is the educational benefit of ski trips to Italy or weekends in Disneyland Resort Paris (Eurodisney). Paul Hackett is the managing director of NST, a specialist group tour operator with a 30 per cent market share of the lucrative school travel business in Ireland.

"The overseas school travel market is growing by about 5 per cent a year," says Hackett. "This is despite falling numbers in the demographic. 79 per cent of schools are now offering students at least one foreign trip per year. We deal with every type of school, from private fee-paying schools to schools that are designated disadvantaged."

Most students travelling are in the 15 to 18 age bracket and sending them on overseas trips is not cheap. With schools going everywhere from Stratford-upon-Avon to South Africa, the cost of a school trip overseas ranges from €250 to more than €1,000 per student. The most popular destinations for schools are the UK, France, Spain and Italy. NST's top tour last year was the Paris trip, which costs about €350 per student.

"The availability of low cost air travel and the opening of Eurodisney are just two reasons why Paris is such a popular destination for schools," says Hackett. "Exposure to the language is the main educational objective, but the school trip is also valuable in terms of team building, rewarding students for hard work and developing relationships between students and teachers."

The UK's main teaching union, NASUWT, last week warned its members to beware of the threat of legal action if students are injured on overseas visits. The warning prompted British education secretary Ruth Kelly to reassure teachers that they would not be vulnerable to litigation as long they stick to employer guidelines. Guidelines for out-of-school trips are to be published in the UK this summer, and Hackett anticipates that officials at the Department of Education and Science will be watching the development closely.

"Teachers in the Republic are not as concerned about the risk of litigation as their counterparts in Northern Ireland, but we have introduced a very stringent, externally verified safety management system to pre-empt any concerns that teachers might have." During the Asti dispute two years ago, there was a brief shortage of available teachers for overseas travel, but the enthusiasm has since returned, says Hackett. Unlike in the UK, where teachers are increasingly reluctant to accompany students abroad, Irish teachers are still happy to give up their free time to traipse around the streets of Paris or Barcelona.

An altogether easier option for teachers, however, is the ski tour, where most of the work is done by ski instructors. In the UK, about 5 per cent of schools offer ski trips; in Ireland that figure is closer to 30 per cent. Most fee-paying schools offer a ski trip, despite the questionable educational rationale.

Topflight is the largest provider of ski trips for Irish schools and its managing director reveals that demand is on the up. "Around 100 school groups travelled with us last year to ski in Italy, Norway, Austria and even the USA," says Marco Piccoli.

"The most basic ski package we offer costs €719. Prices have gone up in recent years. The standardisation of the school year means that every school is vying to travel at the same time."

Most schools don't have a problem getting teachers to accompany students on ski trips, says Piccoli, and this may, in part, account for their popularity. "Supervision on ski trips is a lot easier than taking kids around European cities. There are reps and ski instructors to take the students during the day. We include the teachers' travelling costs as part of the package."

Piccoli believes that the experience of skiing has an educational dimension for students who would otherwise never get near the slopes. The opportunity to bond with other students and build physical confidence is important too, he says. But surely the cost factor is an obstacle for most Irish schools?

"Less well-off schools will often try and take a ski trip outside the mid-term in order to bring costs down," says Piccoli. "It used to be just the wealthy schools that took these trips but we're seeing demand from many types of schools now."

In the future, it may become more difficult for schools to justify taking class time for jaunts to the piste. Hackett expects the school tour market to change radically over the coming years.

"Schools are finding it hard to make the case to the Department for trips that are not closely tied to the curriculum," he says. "Tour operators are bringing more tailored products to the market now, tied to business, science, art and languages."

NST surveyed 23 per cent of Irish schools to test the appetite of teachers for curriculum-based travel. About 20 per cent of respondents said they would be interested in tours tied to the geography and history curricula. Some 15 per cent of respondents expressed an interest in French language-based tours, while 10 per cent said they would take students on English or theatre based tours. Music, business and art trips also attracted some interest. No Irish teachers surveyed showed an interest in taking students on science tours.

Educational or not, the ski trip remains one of the most attractive diversions for Irish schools. One teacher from a prestigious private school, who has recently returned from supervising a ski trip to France, admits that teachers will always favour slopes over museums.

"Supervising ski trips is a piece of cake. The students are busy with the ski instructors all day and by the evening they're too tired to get into trouble. There's no cultural or educational dimension to a ski trip - it's just a holiday. Parents are prepared to pay for it because it gives them a week's break from their kids."

Students overseas: How many and how much

Who offers them?

Seventy-nine per cent of Irish post-primary schools

Where to?

France is the most popular destination, followed by Spain since the birth of the low-cost airline. Ski trips are especially popular in Ireland - about 30 per cent of Irish post-primary schools offered ski trips last year.

Why are schools travelling?

For language acquisition or for leisure

How much are parents paying?

Anything from €250 for a long weekend in Stratford- upon-Avon to over €1,000 for a week's skiing in Italy.

Why so expensive?

With the standardisation of the school year, trips during school breaks are in greater demand, and more expensive.

Where next?

Schools can't justify term-time travel with no direct educational objective, so the school tour could come under Department of Education scrutiny in the coming years. Tour operators are working to tie group tours to the curriculum - expect the European Parliament to replace Disneyland.