High-priced books, uniforms and 'voluntary' contributions are only the start of it – parents are getting ready to shell out hundreds for what is supposed to be a free education system, writes CONOR POPE

CAN THERE BE A more ugly phrase in the English language than “back to school”? Even typing the words makes Pricewatch feel uncomfortable and it’s been over 20 years since we cast aside our tatty old schoolbag for the very last time.

Of course it is not just the children who go to school who hear these words with dread. Those who have to stump up the cash to send them back there have cause to hate them too. Once the books, uniforms, schoolbags, tracksuits, trainers, sports fees, “voluntary” contributions and a host of other items are accounted for, many parents will spend over €1,000 per child to cover the cost of what is a supposedly free education system.

Books for a second-level student can cost as much as €500 while workbooks and other stationery cost a further €125, the same again will be spent on administration expenses and “voluntary” contributions.

For a primary school child the costs are less but still considerable. School uniforms and sportswear for younger children cost up to €300 while books at primary level are over €100; “voluntary “contributions can be anywhere between nothing and €300 while a further €100 will go on administrative costs and €125 for workbooks and stationery. Anyone with a child of school-going age who has change out of a €1,000 come the end of September should be patting themselves on the back.

Áine Lynch is the chief executive of the National Parents Council and her remit is to represent the interests of parents of children of primary school going age. She says the costs don’t have to be so expensive and believes that if “schools work together with parents the costs can be massively reduced.”

The steps which need to be taken are so obvious it is a wonder so many schools fail to take them. Lynch is critical of schools that insist on bespoke uniforms with crests and asks why they don’t have generic uniforms with badges which can be sewn on.

She is singing from the same hymn sheet as Janette Hamill, a mother of two children of primary school-going age who lives on Dublin’s northside. Her youngest is starting junior infants while her oldest is going into first class. When it comes to controlled back-to-school spending she is a model parent.

She describes buying uniforms as “a nightmare” with crested tracksuits costing €30 and jumpers costing €22 – their generic equivalents cost half as much. For items which don’t need a crest, she shops in Marks Spencer — in June when many of the school items are on special offer. “I bought my girl’s pinafore there for €14 but if I had bought it in the school outfitters it would have cost me €26. Marks Spencer may not be the cheapest but they are the best. I have shopped in cheaper shops but the quality is suspect and the clothes lose their shape faster and stain more.”

She travels to the Kildare Village outlet once a year to buy shoes because after experimenting with store’s own-brand options, she has come to the conclusion that the well-known brands are more durable and can be bought at half price in the outlet mall.

Evert Bopp has five children in the education system in Tipperary so each September he shells out in excess of €2,000 just to get them kitted out for the new school year. His bugbear is not the uniforms but the books. “I hate the way that the books seem to change almost every year. There might only be small changes but the children still have to have the latest editions. This means we cannot just pass on the books from child to child which would be a big saving. They either change the books or make them get workbooks which can only be used once.

“I am not really complaining because I have no problem spending the money on my children and the school they go to is excellent and we are very happy with it but it is a lot of money to try and find every year, especially for an education system that is supposed to be free.”

Lynch has the answer to the books problem and it is very simple. She says there is absolutely no need for parents or schools to upgrade books at a pace dictated by publishers. “I hear parents saying that the curriculum is changed too often but the reality is that the curriculum is not changing but publishers are bringing out new editions of their books, quite often with very small changes.”

She points out that schools and parents have choices and can choose not to buy the new books and stick with older editions for set periods to allow children pass books on to younger siblings or sell them at second-hand school book fairs organised by schools.

“The publishers are businesses and as such issuing new editions is a legitimate way for them to maximise revenue but this is about empowerment and if schools and parents get together and decide it is not necessary to put the new editions on the list then the publishers won’t keep bringing out new books.”

The accepted dictionary definition of the word voluntary runs something like this: “Done, made, brought about, undertaken, etc., of one’s own accord or by free choice.” This is a definition many of the State’s schools would be well to learn off by heart as they seem to have developed something of a blind spot when it comes to the meaning of the word.

Some schools put untold pressure on parents to pay up with constant reminders sent via children. Shamefully, some even go as far as to publically identify the children of parents who have not paid the contribution in front of their classmates.

Lynch says the voluntary contributions are, frequently, anything but voluntary “We are against the voluntary contribution. For a start the word voluntary here is very suspect.” She says that as soon as the first term starts many schools issue parents with a letter asking for the contribution – and the contributions can be as much as €300 a year she says. If parents don’t pay they are sent reminders.

“There is huge pressure there. Sometimes parents can afford it but don’t pay on principle because they feel that the education system is supposed to be free. They feel sufficiently empowered not to pay it. However the more disadvantaged parents sometimes put themselves under huge pressure to pay because they don’t want to draw attention to their difficult financial circumstances.”

While the school Hamill sends her children to does not have a voluntary contribution she finds it objectionable and she says she feels sympathy for parents with children in schools which do run such a system.

“I think they are very unfair. I have to ask where is the accountability and I probably would resist paying it on point of principal because it is not voluntary.”

Lynch acknowledges that some schools are left with no choice but to use the “voluntary” contribution to cover heating and lighting costs but says that “a free education system should not be asking parents for contributions. It is either free or not but if it is not free then we need to be upfront about it.”