Bernardos said the overwhelming response to the survey of parents was that the Government must do more to ease the burden on families with school-goers.
Advertisement
The survey finds that when clothes, shoes, books, classroom resources and voluntary contributions are paid, parents of children in senior infants will spend an average of €340, €25 less than past year.
The children’s charity said it would cost just €103m a year to provide free books for primary school children and remove the voluntary contribution.
Children’s charity Barnardos asked nearly 1,500 parents across the country about the financial challenges they face putting their children through school.
One participant said they were “genuinely sick worrying” about how they would afford to pay for all the things their child needed for school.
The Irish education system has “inequality and unfairness” at its core, while claims of free education are an “insult” to parents struggling to cover back-to-school costs, Barnardos has said.
It took into account basic costs such as clothing, footwear, books, resources and voluntary contributions – but did not include costs relating to school bags or sports equipment.
Almost three-quarters of primary school parents spend between €51 and €150 on school uniforms.
“They are frustrated by the injustice of different schools setting vastly different parameters, with some benefitting from school book rental schemes, minimal contributions and plain uniforms”, he added.
We always imagine it’s the children dreading back to school time the most, but year after year it’s clear to Barnardos that parents are the ones suffering.
More than half say book costs have gone up since past year.
Uniforms cost between €51 and €150 at primary level, and between €126 and €225 at secondary level.
Seven out of 10 parents of primary school parents have access to a book rental scheme.
Most primary school parents pay under €100, however 55% of secondary school parents pay over €100 with some parents reporting one-off contributions of up to €850.
Advertisement
“Barnardos wants to see this spent efficiently and effectively to reduce the burden on parents”.
