THE number of parents experiencing difficulty in paying for their children’s educational expenses is steadily increasing in the Mid West.
According to the Michael Murphy, head of St Vincent de Paul in the Mid West, the charity spent more than €125,000 assisting families with school and college expenses last year.
This week, Barnardos released its annual School Costs Survey which showed that on average, it costs parents €350 for a child in senior infants, €400 for fourth class pupils and €785 for students starting first year in secondary school.
Mr Murphy told the Limerick Post: “Over the last two years we have probably contributed more to education costs than ever before. University fees are going up all the time, the cost of books is increasing – at least two of the educational companies have increased their prices this year.
“We are always coming across people who have borrowed to pay for the basics. Over the last few years we’ve seen an increasing number of requests for help with basic school and college costs.”
He added: “We would see book rental schemes as the only way to reduce costs for parents but the Department of Education really have to take the lead in pushing this.”
Mr Murphy spoke out against voluntary contributions that are sought by many schools to assist with the day-to-day running costs.
“These are not voluntary in many schools. In some cases they are over €500 – that is a lot of money for families already in difficulty,” he commented.
Mr Murphy was also critical of schools organising overseas trips as he says it “stigmatises children” whose families can’t afford them.
Donncha O Treasaigh, principal of Gaelcholáiste Luimnigh said that the cost of schoolbooks is the main expense causing difficulty to parents.
“There has been a lot of debate over the cost of uniforms, but schoolbooks are by far the biggest cost factor. Most students will get nearly three years out of their uniforms, that’s not the costly aspect of starting off in secondary school.
“Some book companies have done a little to keep costs down and to not change editions. Recently you had some books that were changed every year so they couldn’t be handed down to younger siblings. But the fact is that books are still too expensive.”
Mr O Treasaigh noted that there were “no resources there for schools to manage a book rental scheme”.
He added that there would be wider implementation of the scheme if schools were given more support in managing them.
Mr O Treasaigh also spoke out against the practice of schools seeking voluntary contributions.
He stated: “This puts huge pressure on parents. Schools will argue that they wouldn’t be able to run the school without this money, but I have heard of some schools where parents will be hassled until they pay it. It usually starts off at around €350 but it can be much more.”
Currently 1,500 families each day in Ireland are applying for the back to school clothing and footwear allowance, which was cut this year by €50 per child.
