Mr. John Curtis:

We welcome the opportunity to address the joint committee on the issue of school costs. The remit of the Joint Managerial Body, JMB, was to look specifically at the issue of textbook rental and the use of educational technologies in education.

First, on book costs, no one can argue against offering support to families in accessing school textbooks. Schools have been providing low and no-cost supports in a dignified manner for families for many years. The problem, however, lies with the resources schools receive in the first place. In 2011-12 the then Minister published a code of practice for publishers and set out to protect funding for book grants to schools in that recessionary academic year. The publication of a subsequent report and guidelines were welcomed and challenged schools of all kinds to consider the supports available to families and take stock of new ideas and good practice in so many settings. Nonetheless, there remain serious challenges to be overcome in respect of equity and implementation. It is the recommendation of the JMB that we return to an application model, rather than the universal, per capitamodel the Department operates. Although it would add to the administrative burden on school principals, it would, nonetheless, better reflect the local student population and allow for a more proportionate allocation of funds, particularly to DEIS schools.

Schools operate a range of models in distributing book grant moneys, ranging from discreet, targeted individual support to voucher systems, second-hand book sales and rental schemes. It is essential that school autonomy be retained in this process as identifying need is best left to schools which really get to know families. The JMB recommends that schools commencing the operation of school rental schemes be given a capital grant to purchase the initial tranche of textbooks and provide for the additional infrastructural investment required to set up such a scheme. Even buying 400 cardboard boxes for students' book sets represents a significant cost, not to mention shelving, stationery and so on. The abolition of such an initial grant which was in place in the past represents a failure to accept current financial realities for schools and families. The JMB is happy to play its part in encouraging school managements to establish rental schemes. The staffing demands of such schemes, however, will require reliable engagement on the part of parents as the current staffing levels of schools do not provide the capacity to do this work. In addition, the prohibition on using grant moneys for e-books is discouraging schools with digital or mixed medium texts from even considering book rental schemes. We urge the Department to reconsider this barrier. Removing the unreasonable imposition of VAT on e-books, as with paper textbooks, would represent a good initial step. Ongoing changes in the profile of textbooks required in the new junior cycle programme continue to discourage large numbers of schools from investing in a book rental scheme.

I turn to technologies. The current digital strategy for schools, while welcome, is not an end in itself. We have, however, been focused for too long on hardware, software, networks, etc. Serious teachers will always maintain a focus on pedagogy. That is where our investment should be concentrated. The core business of a school is not teaching and learning but teaching for learning. Everything a school does must have a learning focus which, in the current technological revolution, must begin with the teacher. Technology does not substitute for good teaching; rather, it amplifies it. The spectrum of digital expertise among teachers is very wide. Teachers urgently need to be equipped to use and create digital classroom materials customised to meet their students’ particular needs. Students also will generate content; it will be impossible to stop them from doing so. Great things are already happening in Irish schools in that regard. Cost effective models for integrating technologies into teaching are also emerging; therefore, it is not always about buying expensive tablets. BYOD, bring you own device, models are working very well in many schools. It would be helpful if the professional development service for teachers, technology in education, could find out what is working well and cost-effectively in schools and share these ideas with everyone.

We wish the committee well in its consideration of these important issues and look forward to our conversation and the eventual report.