Mr. Sean McMahon:

The Irish National Teachers Organisation, INTO, welcomes the opportunity to make a submission to the joint committee on the school book rental scheme. The INTO is the largest teacher union in the country, representing more than 30,000 teachers in primary schools in all parts of the country. This presentation is informed by the views of members as expressed at INTO meetings and through correspondence and communications with the organisation.
A book grant is paid to all primary schools, with DEIS schools receiving an enhanced payment. It is paid in June each year in respect of the following calendar year. A non-DEIS primary school - approximately 90% of all schools - receives a per capitarate of €11, while a DEIS primary school receives €21 per pupil per annum. The equivalent rates at post-primary level at €24 and €39, respectively, are significantly higher. This funding is made available to all schools regardless of demand. It replaces a previous system under which schools applied annually for assistance based on verified need.
Following the announcement of the budget last October, the Minister for Education and Skills announced the provision of additional funding in the next three years for book rental schemes in primary schools. This funding was to be in addition to the existing scheme of book grants outlined. Under the terms of the scheme announced, disadvantaged schools were to receive €150 per pupil over three years, while non-DEIS schools were to receive €100 per pupil. Schools had to apply for the grant by the end of January 2014. However, primary schools which already had in place any form of rental scheme were specifically excluded from applying for this funding, which meant that the vast majority of primary schools were excluded.
Some 80% of primary schools operate some form of a book rental scheme. This does not mean that each school has a comprehensive or fully functional scheme. Rental schemes in primary schools vary from the provision of one or two books to every book required by every pupil in the school. In many cases, the rental scheme in place in a school is a factor of parental or corporate fund-raising, the length of time a rental scheme has been in place in a particular school, the ability of a local school community to establish, administer and maintain a rental scheme and requests for assistance from parents from year to year. In the case of the latter, the greater the demand for assistance the less need there is for seed capital to get a rental scheme off the ground. What most primary schools had in common was very limited funding from the Department of Education and Skills for book rental schemes. Where progress was made on book rental schemes, it was in the main due to local initiatives and local funding.
The scheme announced as part of budget 2014 drew significant criticism from individual schools and teachers, the INTO and political parties which viewed it as an announcement driven not by the needs of pupils, parents and schools but by politics. A departmental press release announced that the Minister for Education and Skills had "revealed plans to ensure that every primary school in the country has a book rental scheme in operation." There was no reference to the fact that 80% of schools would not be funded. There was no acknowledgement that few schools would be able to provide a comprehensive scheme, particularly given the increased demand and the decreasing ability of schools to maintain a scheme. The Minister subsequently admitted that the purpose of the funding was to close the gap in order that every primary school had a book rental scheme. There would, he told RTE, "be no excuse." In other words, it was not about helping all schools in order that they could help parents but an attempt to deflect criticism of inadequate funding. It was about ministerial box ticking, rather than making meaningful, comprehensive provision for book rental.
Some schools did not have a book rental scheme because there was no demand for one from parents. In some of these schools there were small numbers of parents experiencing hardship and schools were able to assist them from the small annual grant provided by the Department of Education and Skills for that purpose. The Minister’s policy resulted in a financial gain for those schools where there was no demand for a scheme. Schools that had followed the Department’s advice two years previously to phase in book rental schemes were excluded from the additional funding. These schools, many of which fund-raised to make up for inadequate State funding for school books, followed departmental advice and tried to improve the position for hard-pressed parents. Many more schools fund-raised significant amounts and prioritised or diverted funding intended for other purposes to put full book rental schemes in place. The policy was seen as a slap in the face to parents and teachers in these schools who were discriminated against in order that the Minister would be able to say there was "no excuse." Schools in which schemes had been established at great cost and effort by school communities saw others receive full State support. Many schools are questioning why they would expand book rental schemes in such circumstances.
The former Minister for Education Noel Dempsey once said schools would not be penalised by the Department for making improvements. The book rental scheme overturns this policy. Schools that had made improvements were penalised by this approach. The decision to exclude was made on very dubious information. Schools were asked to respond "Yes" or "No" on whether they had in place a book rental scheme, with no effort made to obtain the details of that scheme in terms of whether it covered one book or all books or if it was limited to some classes or available throughout the school. The questionnaire to schools was poorly constructed, leading to an increased anomaly, rather than a solution, on the need for book rental schemes in schools.
The INTO believes funding should be made available to all schools seeking to introduce or improve existing schemes. Penalising schools that have struggled and made sacrifices to support book rental schemes is wrong. Penalising schools that have diverted funding to meet other needs such as ICT and that now find themselves at a loss is wrong. Patronising schools by saluting the initiatives of principals who have gone the extra mile with parents and teachers to put in place a book rental scheme while at the same time depriving them of funding is wrong. Only 400 or 12% of primary schools applied for and will receive funding to establish book rental schemes. This is good news for 400 schools, but in thousands of others parents, teachers and pupils believe they have been treated unfairly. The Minister subsequently announced that the balance of the funding would be divided over two years among all other primary schools that operated book rental schemes. These schools are expected to receive €9 per pupil or, in the case of a DEIS school, €10 per pupil for each of the next two years. In 88% of schools the additional funding will provide little more than one additional textbook. It is limited and will do very little to tackle the cost of textbooks in schools. It is clear that a small number of schools will benefit from the scheme, while there is a marginal improvement for most schools. They are being discriminated against because of the hard work of parents and teachers to establish such schemes.
The Minister needs to re-examine the proposal and make changes to ensure all schools, pupils and families are treated fairly and equitably. It is a matter of regret that the Department undertook this work without consulting the INTO. Such consultation would have ensured the views of teachers and principals would have been taken into account. The union could have pointed to the flawed nature of the survey and the inequitable treatment of many schools. Consultation should form part of any review. The INTO has on several occasions expressed concerns about the low level of State funding to support necessitous families with school books at primary level. Given the increased numbers of parents seeking assistance from schools, the level of funding is completely inadequate. It is an effective cutback in the scheme and one that needs to be addressed.

The disparity in per capitafunding between primary and-----