Mr. Hubert Loftus:

The Department welcomes this opportunity to respond to the committee on its report on tackling back-to-school costs and the proposal to establish book rental schemes. The report on tackling back-to-school costs highlights the financial pressures for parents associated with schooling arising from the cost of schoolbooks, school uniforms, curricular and extra-curricular activities and voluntary contributions. The Department notes that many of the recommendations in the report focus on the role of schools and patrons. We will outline the Department’s perspective on these issues and any actions it is taking on them.

The report looked at the cost of schoolbooks. To reduce costs, it made recommendations that schoolbook rental schemes should be available in all schools and that workbooks should be banned. The Department encourages all schools to operate schoolbook rental schemes. In the recent budget, it was announced that the Department is to receive €5 million from the proceeds of the national lottery licence transaction to allow primary schools to invest in book rental schemes. Further investment is to take place over the next three years to support the establishment of book rental schemes in all primary schools that do not currently operate them.

With regard to workbooks, the Department issued guidance in 2012 to all schools outlining a number of strategies to avoid the need for workbooks or to allow for workbooks to be re-used from year to year. Effective teachers use a range of active learning approaches in the classroom rather than over-reliance on textbooks and workbooks.

With regard to school uniforms, the report recommended that schools should be encouraged by their patron bodies to introduce generic uniforms. The committee will be aware that the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Quinn, has expressed his concern about costs incurred by parents on school uniforms. It is important that schools take account of the wishes of parents on this issue. Earlier this week, the Minister issued a press release requiring schools to ballot their parental community on school uniform policy. The Department will engage with school management on that point. It will make progress in the coming weeks.

During the course of the school year, the Minister intends to publish his plans for a parents' charter that will strengthen in general the position of parents within our school system. Changes to the Education Act 1998 will be important in underpinning such a charter and will form part of these proposals.

With regard to curricular and extra-curricular activities, the committee’s report noted that extra-curricular activities are, in theory, optional. In practice, this is not always the case. The report also noted that curricular activities that occur during the school day should not incur any costs to parents. The Department's position is that schools must offer full access to the curriculum during the school day. Compulsory additional payments cannot be sought for any in-school curriculum provision, and all pupils should have equal access to the curriculum offered.

With regard to voluntary contributions, the report recommended that the practice of requesting voluntary contributions should be greatly discouraged, if not completely eliminated. Any discussion about voluntary contributions and funding of schools has to be considered in the context of the Government’s budgetary programme to reduce public expenditure to sustainable levels. The challenge for all schools is to ensure that whatever funding is provided by the Government is used to maximum effect. The Department's position is that, apart from the recognised fee-charging second level schools, recognised schools are not permitted to charge school fees. Voluntary contributions by parents of pupils in such recognised schools are permissible provided it is made absolutely clear to parents that there is no question of compulsion to pay and that, in making a contribution, they are doing so of their own volition.

The timing and manner in which such voluntary contributions are sought and collected is a matter for school management. Their collection should be such as to avoid creating a situation where either parents or pupils could reasonably infer that the contributions take on a compulsory character. The Department has no plans to prohibit such voluntary contributions. The committee members may be aware from the draft general scheme for an admissions to schools Bill that schools will be required to declare that no deposits, fees or contributions will be sought or charged as a condition of application for enrolment or for continued enrolment.