New plan to tackle cost of education for parents is “completely insufficient and lacks any vision”

New measures to be introduced by Minister for Education Richard Bruton aimed at helping to reduce school costs for parents have been announced.

The new measures include the introduction of generic school uniforms and iron-on/sew-on crests, the banning of workbooks that cannot be reused and an obligation on schools to provide parents with a costed list of items they are required to buy.

Other notable rules include schools being required to provide book rental schemes, while the rules also state that ‘where possible’, the option for parents to buy generic rather than school branded items.

Schools that do not comply, according to the statement, will receive a smaller increase in funding for the day-to-day running costs of the school, which is also known as capitation.

The circular is set to be published next week, however, some have criticised the Minister, including Barnardos’ Head of Advocacy, June Tinsley who said the measures do not go far enough.

She said: “Today’s announcement that Minister Bruton is to issue a circular to schools to be mindful of costs on parents is completely insufficient and lacks any vision or recognition by the State that schools are totally underfunded.

“Barnardos has recommended to this Minister and others that it would cost just €103.2m to guarantee a free primary education for all children in Ireland.

“This is only an extra cost-per-pupil of just €185. This investment would fulfil the Government’s Constitutional obligation to provide genuinely free primary education for all children.

“It would cover all school books, school transport fees, classroom resources fees, eliminate voluntary contribution fees and would restore the capitation grants to 2010 levels.”

Other organisations welcomed the announcement, including the Society of St Vincent de Paul, but they echoed the thoughts of Barnardos, believing the measures do not go far enough to deal with the financial burden placed on parents.