Bill aims to ban ‘obligation’ for school contributions

The Labour Party is to bring forward a Bill which would ban schools from seeking voluntary contributions from parents, unless it is made clear that there is no obligation on parents to pay.

Senator Aodhán Ó Ríordáin said that schools would not change their behaviour unless the law was changed to prohibit them from seeking contributions from parents to fund the basic activities.

It was revealed this week that parents are paying €46 milliona year in voluntary contributions to schools. Many parents have said they feel pressurised into making the contributions

Catholic Primary Schools Managers’ Association said that the current capitation grant covers just 52 per cent of the overall cost of running a school and called for capitation to be restored to its pre-cut level immediately.

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The Labour Bill, which is expected to be tabled in the Seanad next week, would institute a ban on requests for contributions from parents for the provision of education or any school activities.

However, it says requests for voluntary contributions are permissible if “there is no obligation to make the contribution requested . . . and students will not be treated differently if their parents do not make a contribution”.

Exception

The Bill also bans schools from charging fees, but then makes an exception for fee-paying secondary schools, boarding schools and schools which offer post-leaving cert courses.

This would appear to ban private primary schools from charging fees. There are a small number of private primary schools, mostly in south Co Dublin, which charge tuition fees and receive no State support. Under the terms of the Bill, these would have to cease operations or seek sanction as a State-funded school.

However, Mr Ó Ríordáin said that this was not the intention and the Bill could be amended during the legislative process.

“The intention here is to make education completely free,” he said, adding that Labour would bring forward proposals to increase capitation grants for schools, to introduce free book schemes and to “drive down the cost of what parents pay.”

The total cost of making education “completely free”, he said, would be “about €100 million”.

“We need to change the behaviour of schools,” he said. “It needs primary legislation, or schools won’t change the way they operate.”