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THE INFOGRAPHIC BELOW has been produced by the children’s charity Barnardos to show just how much it costs to send a child to school in Ireland today.
The main findings of the survey can be read here, but the graphic is well worth a look as well…
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This is another one to regulate…schools need to be prohibited to blackmail parents with all those money making initiatives where they are forced to buy goods from “selected” vendors, promote “voluntary” contributions, etc
And what makes it worse is that we know that our children are in the middle so nobody wants to chance it and dispute it.
Shameful!
You say ‘money making initiatives’ Patitas, but it clearly isn’t the teachers/governers who are getting the money. Attend a parents’ association or management meeting and see just how far short State funding for schools falls – and it’s worse again when schools like Educate Together have no religious/parish funding to draw on. We need to decided whether free education and equal opportunities for all children is something we value, or whether we prefer a lottery of birth and location.
People choose to have kids, they are not cheap, this is known when people choose to get pregnant. Stop complaining about a choice you freely made.
I am not denying the lack of funding that schools receive or don’t receive. I am complaining three fact that some schools engage in low moral practices to raise money.
What is even sadder is that none of you are denying that this exist. You are just trying to find a way to justify it.
Fed up getting letters weekly from the schools looking for money
I get the feeling that schools are adopting the “Ryanair model” Additional charges for everything. I’m sure some school somewhere has even considered a way to charge for toilet use & a schoolbag charge.
It cost me the best part of a grand to send my son to secondary last yr,I know the majority of the books are up to junior cert,his books this year were €150 so far,the rest to be decided in sept!! not including those A4 hardbacks which cost a fortune when your buying loads of them,I had to re-enrol him into 2nd yr at a cost of €150,can’t see why they can’t make the book rental scheme mandatory for all schools,ridiculous expense & it’s not as if they can be passed on as they keep updating the editions!!!
Ridiculous expense buying school books for your child’s education? Who do you think should burden this expense?
Fair enough, but when the 2nd hand market is nipped in the bud by new revision after new revision, year after year…me smells a rat.
I have no problem renting books if they set up a proper system with book companies,the money spent on new books is crazy when they can’t be reused!!!
Tara, I’d blame the publishers for the text book issue. They often stop printing a text after a few years and bring out a new edition. The school then has no other option but to put the new text on the booklist. A money making racket on behalf of the publishers.
Yep that’s exactly who I blame Gary,but sure it’s an expense I have to budget for,sure when he becomes a doctor he can repay me.. ;)
@tara
There’s a good few schools around the country piloting a new scheme whereby 1st years all get iPads and all their books are on that. As far as I know this has scared the book companies into copping on a bit so time will tell I suppose
Didn’t all teachers receive Ipads last year too? Was that something to do with the roll our your speaking about Niall?
Yep Niall know of 1 up this way that uses the iPads but heard its even more costly in the long run.id say it will be the way to go in s few yrs.
I wish that was true ted!
Any teachers that got IPads or Samsung tablets have the price deducted from their wages over the period of a year. It’s a reduced price as far as I know but that’s to encourage teachers to promote it as a teaching tool and hence make the manufacturer more money
Our school had a vote on it and rejected the idea of bringing in iPads for 1st years because of the cost of enrolling already and the fact that technology goes out of date so fast
Surely it would make sense and cheaper to have the same edition book but if new additions need to be made to it, a printed handout could be given to the student to insert into it. There is absolutely no need to update some of the books with “new editions” it’s a scam
No all teachers did not receive iPads . Teachers would be lucky if they got pencils for their class at this stage.
No, Ted, all teachers didn’t receive Ipads or any other electronic device
My daughter is going into second year and used the iPad in first year. So far I haven’t seen the benefit as her bag is really heavy with all the hard back copies. She also finds it hard to study on the iPad. I’m looking into getting second hand books for her to study on at home.
I haven’t purchased any ebooks for her for second year, we will be given a list in the first week she is back to school and pay up before the end of the week. She is looking to change schools for the senior cycle to a school that uses books, leaving all her friends behind.
Find myself in agreement with you karla because I wouldn’t like my kids to be looking at a screen all day long at school and then having to look at one again for homework which is on top of what ever TV/computer games they watch
In fairness, uniforms are worn EVERY DAY for months and they are made to last, hence the price. On a price per wear they’re good value. I disagree with including shies in this, school or not kids need shies.
This bugs me every year, parents have 12 months to prepare for back to school, hardly sprung on them. Maybe the focus should be on teaching people to budget and live within their means. How many of those giving out about uniform costs drink/smoke/cinema trips/take aways/holidats/video games/handbags/multiple pairs going out shoes etc etc all unnecessary
BS. – I have 3 kids – they get max half the year out of their uniforms. The REAL issue with uniforms is the schools vanity insisting they have jumpers & tracksuits bearing the school crest. It really gets me when I see adverts on UK stations for low-cost uniforms – & I mean dirt cheap, but still the same quality, for around 10% of what we pay here.
Breaking the mold & sending them to school in generic uniforms is not a solution as the child gets demerits for not wearing proper uniform, they add up & the child gets detention.
How is a polo shirt that is exactly the same as one you buy in a chain store more hardy because it has a crest on it?
Normal clothes don’t wear out that often, and you buy them for the kids anyway, so why on earth do you need to dress all the kids in ugly uniforms and take away their individuality?
Max half a year out of a uniform???! What the hell are they doing with them, lighting them on fire?
They’re junk – cuffs, elbows & knees wear through way too easily. I wouldn’t mind replacing them regularly @ €5 a pop from pennys, heatons, the other unmentionable, or even mr. price, but €45 just because of the embroidery? I’d like to see an instruction from Dept of Education insisting uniforms are generic & “unbranded”
Absolutely half a year out of a uniform! They’re wearing the same set of clothes (except maybe for the shirt) day in, day out. They’re playing in it at lunch time, and one hard fall can destroy the knees of those trousers. How often did you skin your knees as a kid? My mam used to drag me out of the uniform the second I got home to keep me from working it any harder.
And kids grow! One growth spurt can be the ruination of an entire wardrobe.
I didn’t like wearing my uniform as a kid but I still knew that my family could not afford to dress me in designer gear and kids are cruel, if you wear dunnes or pennies you can get a hard time. It was bad enough getting made fun of over my cheap trainers, think some schools now include shoes in the uniform. uniformity leaves less things to be bullied about and more money in the parents pocket. Shame about the school jumper cost though didn’t our parent just buy a big one and it lasted for an age longer then.
that’s exactly it John – The jumper, poloshirts, & tracksuits now cost more than some designer gear. The reasoning behind the original argument for uniforms is gone, only now families HAVE to fork out for them. I suggested to mine that they wear the same jumpers but without the crests, but they feel they would be singled out.
Fair enough will have to take your word for it. My little girl is two its all ahead of me. I don’t blame your kids for not wanting to wear the cheaper jumpers especially when the colour is often a little off. The change should really come from the school. A contract with a tailor to sow them on for each school would be a good idea.
they’re identical jumpers – all probably out of the same sweat-shop in Bangladesh (you know, made for kids, by kids) – the €40 difference is for the embroidered crest.
My mam used to buy generic jumpers, but would take the crest off old jumpers and sew onto new generic ones. Cheaper than having the shop do it.
Matt, buy the crest and see it on, or recycle crests from old clothes.
they don’t do them as patches anymore – closing off every avenue to save a bit.
Take the crest off last years one and sew it on.
It doesn’t have to be uniform or designer gear, John. I taught in a secondary school in Germany, and there was no uniform and no designer gear. Kids just wear what they always wear, and most kids don’t wear designer gear, if they have it, to school. They keep it for good. When kids just see wearing their normal clothes to school, they don’t make a big deal of it.
And so what if some kid shows off his designer trainers or top. Your kid has to learn that you can’t have everything you want in life. Or he might go out and get a job to buy the stuff himself. Two good life lessons.
And, speaking as a teacher, you get much more out of kids if you don’t have to spend your time telling them off for wearing the wrong socks or not having a tie. A school can have rules the kids understand and respacet.
I guess you have no kids in school
Is that addressed to me, Sheelagh? I don’t have now, but I did. As I said elsewhere, there was no uniform in primary so it was quite a shock for me and for her to have to wear one in secondary. And the ridiculous expenses involved.
I take it that’s to grainne. Having a child feel inadequate by what they are wearing can translate into other areas, poor esteem, poor grades etc. uniforms create equality by their uniformity. As someone who was bullied I can tell you kids don’t need a reason to bully but they will look for reasons.
No offence meant grainne but if you are on a teachers wage your daughter is unlikely to have the same viewpoint as the poorer kids when it comes to uniforms. Maybe my comment is outdated as im basing it on my own personal experience and its 14 years since I sat my leaving cert. Any comments from others?
First of all, John, designer gear is no indicator of income or social class any more. There are some people on low income who will go to a moneylender to get money to buy their kid a pair of designer trainers, and there are middle class people who will buy them trainers from Penneys because they don’t see the point in paying over the odds for something. And people on low income who will be prudent with their money while people with lots of money will splash the cash. At the end of the day, kids will sort these things out. As Franzi said, if the school has a uniform, the kids will find some other way to show off, such as backpacks, phones etc. If bully is going to go on, it will go on.
The benefits, however, of kids being able to express their individuality at a very vulnerable and important time of their lives, are priceless. And it is so refreshing for those teaching them to go into a classroom and see thirty individuals sitting in front of them, instead of serried ranks of clones.
No offence taken, John, but to be honest I’m not quite sure what you mean. My daughter went to a non-uniform school for eight years, and it wasn’t an issue one way or the other. She just wore the clothes she wore at home, which certainly wasn’t designer gear. The rare bits of expensive clothes she had were Christmas or birthday presents and she certainly wouldn’t have been allowed wear them to school!
Are there no public schools in Ireland?
a circular was sent to all schools about the voluntary donations/re enrolement fees by the department of education stating that it must be made clear donation is actually voluntary and if they press the issue or try to coerce the money from parents they risk losing their state funding.i know because i rang them after my sons school asked for 150 to “re enrole” him.
150 that’s a joke
Are you American, Kimberly? In Ireland and the UK, a “public school”, weirdly, means a posh fee paying school, usually a boarding school. I think you mean “state school”, and yes, most schools are state schools. But wearing uniforms is the norm for state schools here as well as for private schools. People like to regiment children.
It is certainly ridiculous, Trish, to coerce people to pay this fee, but I can see the school’s side too. They are so stuck for money, they need this for the extras you’d take for granted. They are wrong to coerce people, but it is wrong that they should have to be looking for it in the first place.
Was rurai Quinn not on the case on this…promising generic uniforms, book rentals and lower costs?!?…….Hmmm seams he pulled another ‘no third level fees’ lie.
i agree they need the money..and im the first one to contribute to fundraisere…but I’ve heard of children being made stand up in class in front of everyone and asked why they haven’t paid.that’s just wrong.as for the book rental scheme..its great until 2nd year…when your given a book list for extra books which total 130..despite me paying 150 last year to rent the books and told that covered everything.i pads for all children.would save money and their backs.
Grainne, a public school in Ireland is a state school not a private school. Only in uk do they refer to private school as a public school.
Hmm, Doug, I thought “public school” refers to posh fee paying schools. I’ve always differentiated between public and state schools
I just never say “public school”. Avoids confusion! It’s extremely rare that I’d hear the phrase referring to Ireland.
I am an American, and I am interested. Our education system is sort of regulated by each school district, with guidelines from the states. The public schools have activity fees, but no actual school fees.
Hi Kimberley
The Irish school system is very centralised, with all schools being funded from central government. But then our entire school system would probably fit into the school system of one of your smaller cities!
The problem is that the schools get so much funding per capita and it’s just enough to pay the basics. But when it comes to extras like art materials, photocopying etc., there rarely is enough money to go round and so the schools have to fundraise from the parents.
Probably right, Mollydot. Now that I think of it, we’d say “private school” for the fee paying ones. Definitely not “public school” for state schools, though.
I wonder how many of these cash strapped families Barnardos talk about buy cigarettes, drink in pubs and have mobile phones.
You want people to do without phones? That’ll be great for job hunting.
You can get a smart phone and 200 minutes of calls for less than a land line.
My son is going in to first year and we’ve spent almost €400 on books. But we saved €45 by refusing to buy his religion books. One of the many upsides of being an atheist!
Even these figurs are less than that v r paying…parents are paying too much for track suit and jumpers…
The whole idea of buying special school clothes is ridiculous anyway. My daughter went to a primary school where there was no uniform, and it was bliss. She just threw on whatever clothes she wanted to in the morning and off she went. I was shell shocked when she went to secondary and I had to go to a particular shop to buy stuff like polo shirts with the school crest. I could have bought three in Dunnes or Tesco for the cost of one of these crested affairs. I’m telling you, after first year, that kind of stuff was bought in Dunnes, and to hell with the crest. And I wasn’t the only parent doing it.
I know people will say uniforms are cheaper in the long run, but they are not. If they wear the clothes they have anyway, you don’t have to buy extra. And it’s good for kids to be able to exercise their minds about how they want to look.
I had a secondary school uniform that had to be bought in the one shop, big price up front etc, but I had the skirt for all six years, and had two jumpers. Just bought generic blouses and socks each year then.
stunted growth?
But Leah, was it a skirt you would ever have considered buying if you didn’t have to wear it for your school uniform? I’ve never seen a school uniform that even remotely resembled what young people actually like to wear. I’m sure it was a very hardy skirt all right… :-)
Not quite Matt, it was ankle length in first year and the waist band was adjustable ;)
It was not a skirt I could have worn outside school. If so I would have probably needed a replacement sooner, and it I was allowed to wear my own clothes, I’d probably have more than one skirt!!
I had to hand over a hundred euro for my daughters books, she is only going into junior infants! My seven year olds cost more again. I havnt added up the cost of sending them this year because it might kill me altogether and that’s before they go and start sending home letters looking for money every week.
The cost of sending children to school is extortionate here and completely out of line with our struggling economy and cash strapped families. My daughter’s uniform has fist me almost 600 Euro and her books well over the 500 mark. School got 250 to re enrol them in May and I can assure to that there is not a month goes by without the school asking for money for something or other. I have another child going into 3rd year,I have his uniform to buy still,no books this year but I have to pay for his junior cert,his mock exams and because he is doing wood work,there is another fee for that. There is no such thing as free education in Ireland.
Cost me…
56% of secondary kids getting a clothing allowance. Sick. That’s your welfare state for you, breeding a generation of kids reliant on welfare. Obviously the decent working patents are being crowded out of it as it costs too much for them to reproduce.
Maybe they should bring down the costs, then, so a back to school allowance wouldn’t be justifiable and therefore get struck off altogether? Wouldn’t take much to tell schools they’re only allowed to use generic uniforms or they have to sell the crest seperately, or put that money to funding meals in schools and subsidising books.
The cost of uniforms are crazy! Some schools insist on jumpers with fancy crests and with particular patterns which hike up the prices enormously! School management need to cop themselves on and substitute style for practicality and price.
Our school have an option of blue jumper (with crest) shirt and skirt/pants or a blue tracksuit . Our parents council purchase the jumpers and tracksuits directly from the manufacturer at cost and sell them on for a small profit and all profits end up going back to the school one way or the other.
Why is it a shock to some people that kids cost money?
I agree. Why are people surprised that it costs money to send your child to school? If anything uniforms save money and reduce bullying about being different if you can’t afford the latest clothes, it was bad enough with what shoes you’d wear in the school I was in. When I was in Secondary School, I had two jumpers in the whole 6 years.. I imagine that saved my parents a fortune in comparison to no uniform at all. Most schools have loan schemes for books aswell. Bitching about this stuff is ridiclous, Ireland has a fantastic education system which we should all be proud of. Move to the UK and you’ll be spending a hell of alot more and if your children want to go to university you’ll be shelling out 9000 a year and thats just tuition fees..
The Parents Council have a ‘Books Scheme’ in our primary school where they purchase the books in bulk at a reduced rate and then ‘rent’ the books. At the end of the year they are returned and reused.
The biggest problem is ‘revised’ books which is just a con. Another major problem are ‘Workbooks’ which cant be reused. These type of books are currently a scourge in primary schools; I’m not sure if they are used in secondary school?
Workbooks are IMO lazy teaching tools and a money spinner for publishers. Years ago we got photocopied worksheets to work from or we used our copies and pencils to write information down. Obviously junior classes need them, but I think workbooks after 2nd class should be banned. Book Rental is €50 per child, but workbooks for a 4th class student cost over €100 on top of that! A few extra copies a year would be less than a tenth of the cost.
Can anybody tell me what the logic behind school uniforms is anyway? I don’t see any advantages to them really, but lots of disadvantages: cost, practicality (how can little girls run around and play football in ballerina shoes and pinafores?), limited self expression …
The logic is that they want all the children to be the same. In theory, that is so that rich and poor are alike, but we all know that’s a load of codswallop, as the richer kids will have newer uniforms, shinier shoes, etc. the other argument is that it’s cheaper, which is nonsense, as they have other clothes anyway, so you’re just buying extra.
As a teacher, I hate standing in front of a class of clones. I am happy that students would express themselves, and what better way than through their clothes, hairstyles, jewellery etc. Uniforms aren’t levellers, they just stifle individuality. And they are rarely anything remotely resembling the clothes young people would choose to wear. One secondary school I know has a uniform of grey sweatshirt and navy cords for every day wear, but that’s rare.
Agree 100%. I worked as a teacher in Germany and I was actually scared of the idea of standing in front of 30 teenagers all looking the same (although I’m not teaching now anyway but that’s a different story.) You can’t “make” everybody the same as people ARE different, even kids. Also, if the logic is that they don’t want kids to be bullied for their cheap clothes, then I fear that has failed anyway, because as you and others have said there’s still pressure to get the latest shoes/backpacks etc. In fact, I never saw this many students with the same brand backpacks before I came to Ireland.
Hi Franzi. I taught in Germany for a year, and what struck me most was that the kids were much more respectful of the rules that were in the school, because they were good rules. No time wasted on petty, silly rules like someone wearing make up or not having a tie. Girls wearing ties, what’s all that about?
As you said, social and economic differences will always manifest themselves.
my daughter starts school in September.
We paid 65euro to the school which includes insurance,art supplies and book rental. She has no uniform. lunch box and school bag cost me less than 20 euro and have to get a few bits of stationery and 2 workbooks. about 100 euro all in. not bad at all!
On the other hand, having children in school means not having to pay for childcare all year long, and it allows both parents to get paid employment outside the home (if they are lucky enough to find a job). Not only does this mean a second income, it also gives up to €6,000 per year tax bonus over a single income family EARNING THE SAME TOTAL INCOME.
If one wants to complain about the cost (and I agree it is very high), one also has to consider the savings involved in having children in full time education.
Another part of Enda’s cunning plan to make Ireland a low cost country….
My sons school came up with a scheme that was supposed to save parents money on school uniforms by sourcing them from a supplier that only sells online. You order through the school and collect from the school in mid august. This online supplier is charging more than even the uniform shop in town for everything. I bought the jumper from the uniform shop as its crested so cant be bought in dunnes etc. Trousers and shirts i bought in dunnes as i am not paying over the odds for navy trousers and blue shirts. I really think this policy of uniform only being available from a certain supplier is crazy. It means that supplier can charge what they like.
Why can’t parents just get together and refuse to buy this crested stuff? You have representatives on the Board of Management.
Why is
I think book rental schemes and school uniform recycling should be compulsory in all primary schools. I’ve seen some great initiatives where parents bring in the uniform that their child has outgrown and swap it for the next size up etc. It’s very important for parents associations to liaise with schools on these issues and to be prepared to volunteer their time to organise things.
have your say