Cost of sending children to school almost double what parents think it is
The average cost of sending a child to primary school is almost double what most parents think it is, according to the latest Zurich Cost of Education Survey 2017.
The poll of 600 parents found it costs an average of €766 per year to send a child to primary school, while 18 per cent of parents said they get into debt when covering the cost.
For those who have children attending secondary school, the cost per year stands at an average of €1,628, with a third of those questioned admitting they got into debt when trying to cover the costs of schooling for secondary school going children.
Although most believed the biggest cost of the year for children attending primary school was for books and uniforms, the latest survey suggests after school activities (€165) are the biggest outlay for parents, followed by lunches (€110), school uniforms (€124), books (€80) and school trips (€87).
When asked, just over half of parents said they would favour a move away from books and towards digital devices, while just one in 10 primary school children eat in a school canteen compared to 13 per cent of secondary school students.
