Brian Stanley: Back-to-School Costs, Laptop Mandates Exposed
Brian Stanley responds to Deputy Kenny's proposals on rising back-to-school costs and calls for enforceable guidelines for schools and restored grants. He warns that mandatory IT requirements, exam fees and hidden charges are pushing low and middle income families into debt.
Brian Stanley outlines the scale of the problem facing parents at the start of the school year. He cites surveys showing annual costs rising to £1,700 for primary pupils and up to £2,900 for secondary pupils, and warns that families with several children face a major financial burden.
Stanley identifies uniforms, school transport, stationery, so-called voluntary contributions, state exam fees, transition year costs and mandated laptops and IT equipment as the main drivers of expense. He notes that required IT devices can cost €500 or more, wiping out savings from schemes such as free back-to-school and book rental.
He describes how households under pressure may turn to moneylenders, including illegal lenders charging 50% plus interest, because there is nowhere else to turn. He frames the problem as part of the wider cost-of-living crisis and says elected representatives must act to help low and middle income households.
Stanley supports enforceable guidelines for schools, a requirement to address mandated laptop and IT demands, restoration of the €50 million school IT infrastructure grant and the €100 back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance that was cut. He also calls for a ministerial order on generic uniforms and an increase in capitation grants for schools.
Rising costs and who is affected
Brian Stanley outlines the scale of the problem facing parents at the start of the school year. He cites surveys showing annual costs rising to £1,700 for primary pupils and up to £2,900 for secondary pupils, and warns that families with several children face a major financial burden.
Key cost drivers
Stanley identifies uniforms, school transport, stationery, so-called voluntary contributions, state exam fees, transition year costs and mandated laptops and IT equipment as the main drivers of expense. He notes that required IT devices can cost €500 or more, wiping out savings from schemes such as free back-to-school and book rental.
Consequences for families
He describes how households under pressure may turn to moneylenders, including illegal lenders charging 50% plus interest, because there is nowhere else to turn. He frames the problem as part of the wider cost-of-living crisis and says elected representatives must act to help low and middle income households.
Proposed measures and demands
Stanley supports enforceable guidelines for schools, a requirement to address mandated laptop and IT demands, restoration of the €50 million school IT infrastructure grant and the €100 back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance that was cut. He also calls for a ministerial order on generic uniforms and an increase in capitation grants for schools.
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Transcript
I want to welcome this comprehensive set of proposals from Deputy Kenny. We're at this time of year again where parents, particularly parents in low and middle income households are facing the annual challenge of back to school costs. Families are facing a stack of fees and expenses such as uniforms, increased school transport fees this year, school stationery, so-called voluntary contributions, and then laptops and IT equipment, and of course now state exam fees are back. Surveys show that the total cost per school year can accumulate to £1,700 for a primary school child and up to £2,900 for secondary school children. So for families with a number of children, school going, this can be a major headache. While the free back to school and the book rental scheme is a saving, and I acknowledge that and I help, this is wiped out though by the cost of having to buy IT equipment and these are now mandated in schools and it can be up to €500 and over it in terms of the cost. And then there are all the other costs that the National Parents Council have consistently highlighted, hidden costs, transition year contributions and school trips, etc. In the struggle to meet these costs, many households will turn to moneylenders because there's nowhere else to go, and pay penal interest rates in some cases to illegal moneylenders who are charging 50% plus in interest. So it has been a cost-living crisis, there's a known as on us to do all we can to help these low and middle income households. And yes education, we have a reasonably good education system in this country, but we must deal with the cost issue and the proposals in the motion to introduce enforceable guidelines for schools and the requirement for laptops and IT equipment. That's important, that's not just a letter, that is mandated. We also need to restore the school grant, the €50 million to cover the cost of IT's infrastructure, we need to restore the €100 that was cut from the back to school clothing and footwear allowance, and send that ministerial order to schools in relation to generic uniforms. It's a terrible situation. Uniforms, I remember hearing a conversation between my mother and an aunt years ago, and we were talking about the benefit of school uniforms, that every child would look the same, and there'd be no competition in terms of fashion, particularly in Gaelic schools. But what's happened is, we've understood that in its head, and it's important that we increase the capitation grant as well for schools.