Seanad debates

Wednesday, 8 May 2019

Free Education (Prohibition of Fees and Charges) Bill 2018: Second Stage

 

2:30 pm

Photo of Lynn RuaneLynn Ruane (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for attending. I also thank Senator Ó Ríordáin for bringing forward the Bill. I never really prepare myself for how upset I get at some of these conversations. I continue to be surprised by the distance between politicians and the lived experiences of people in this country. I do not know why I continue to be surprised. Sometimes I think my well-meaning colleagues do not even hear the undertones of what they say when they make their contributions. A huge number of today's contributions have been about how great boards of management are, how great schools are and how much we need to realise that it takes an awful lot of work to run a board of management. I can tell the House in no uncertain terms that the conversations at meetings of boards of management are not reflective of what goes on in a classroom.

I am sorry to tell Senator Horkan that just because he does not see it happening, does not mean it is not happening. He should believe us when we say that not being able to pay contributions means it is embarrassing to drop a child to school and that on many occasions we are shamed. Years ago, when I was on the lone parent's allowance, I was embarrassed time and again when my child came home telling me the teacher had asked about the money. There was no note coming to my door in a closed envelope. It was a direct question to my child about contributions. I bought the books and the uniform. I was used to paying for books because my parents paid for books. It was something I knew about and allowed for. Contribution fees came later. I can tell the House that everything Senator Ó Ríordáin said is true.The problem is that because people like us, and even me now, are not affected, we fail to see it is happening. This is because we listen to the well-meaning conversations of boards of management but they do not reflect the reality or what is happening. I do not care about how a school feels about keeping the lights on if it is going to be to the detriment of a family that cannot keep its lights on. We should not place this burden on any family. We must not shame a family into thinking that if it does not pay a voluntary contribution, a school will not be able to buy art supplies. Why should any parent living on €180 to €250 per week, paying colossal rent and trying to feed and clothe a number of children be the one who has to pay to keep the school lights on? It is such a manipulative way to get money from people. It is manipulation and abuse. It is abuse to say to parents a certain thing cannot be done in a school if they do not pay the student contribution fee. It is failing to account for their inability to make a contribution. The embarrassment it causes is significant. Those affected do not show up for parent-teacher meetings.

There are schools that will not give a child a locker until the student contribution fee is paid. My daughter had to carry massive books to school until I paid the locker fee. This was when she started secondary school. She had to walk to school in the morning with the big, heavy bag of books and back at lunchtime. This is happening. I was less affected by this than many because I did not have to run my own home. I was very lucky to live with my parents, who supported me. I watched what was happening, however. It is happening all around the country, particularly in Dublin. I cannot account for what is happening outside Dublin because I do not have experience of working with parents there.

Teachers are saying to students that they will not be able to engage in a certain activity until the contribution is made. Children are being told directly that the contribution was supposed to have been paid three months ago. Children are being poverty-shamed in front of their classmates, making the rest of the class aware that they have not paid.

When we buy books now, we do not even get to reuse them. The Department or other relevant authority decided to use workbooks. Students do their work on the pages of these workbooks so they cannot even be handed down. Parents used to have an option in that if they bought the books once, they could be passed down to other members of the family. That does not happen now.

I dealt with a case involving a grandmother who was caring for a child. I am not sure what happened to the child's mother. The grandmother did what used to be done in the 1980s. She wrapped the schoolbooks with leftover wallpaper because that was what was done at the time. The school took it off, said it did not look neat and told the grandmother she was to go out and buy brown sheets of paper to cover the books. This is happening every day in classrooms.

I am only scratching the surface because I only ever have so much of the information. We must not continue to have these conversations and talk about how great boards of management are. We know they are doing the work but their members go home to their own lives and are not the children who go home feeling absolutely ashamed of themselves because they believe they are now poor.

As a mother, I would have lied my way through anything when I did not have enough money to pay for something. I would have found myself explaining myself. I have watched my friends do it. They do not even tell each other they cannot afford to pay because they are embarrassed. They just say they forgot to drop up the payment and that they will drop it up the following week. That is literally what parents are doing. They cannot even admit it among themselves that they cannot afford to pay because they feel ashamed and that there is something wrong with them as a consequence. It is happening in every school and children are being shamed.

We need to shift the conversation. If we believe boards of management and teachers are great, let us support them by giving them adequate State funding. They should not keep telling us they have to demand voluntary contributions and place the burden on families that are already feeling embarrassed and ashamed. They must deal with enough without having to tell their child they cannot afford something he or she needs. It is completely unethical. It is completely immoral.

If we are to make an effort to do something, we must advocate for the State to pay adequately for education and not try to make the case that there is nothing else we can do other than request voluntary contributions. Until one walks for a day in the shoes of the affected families, what one says here is completely irrelevant. Talk of teachers and their being well-meaning is completely irrelevant to those who have faced what I describe, who have watched their community face it, and who have watched families with five, six or seven children try to pay for schooling.

Often in communities with a high rate of deprivation and poverty, there is already a negative experience of education. The last thing one needs to do is compound and reinforce that experience by creating a negative relationship between children and their classmates or teacher because their families cannot afford something. There should be a relationship based on equality, allowing the children to flourish.

As Senator Ó Ríordáin stated, when the money factor is introduced, a transactional relationship is created between the family and school or the family and the teacher. It becomes less about learning and more about demanding money. It becomes a service like every other service with which many working class communities already have negative interactions. We need to remove this barrier so we can get to the true nature of education. As politicians, we need to trust families when they outline their experience, regardless of whether we sit on boards of management.

One could sit in a boardroom and be really inspired by the board members and say they are great on the basis of their saying they are doing certain things, but one is not sitting in the family homes listening to the families' stories and experience of interaction with the schools. The problem is that we are starving schools of resources. We are creating a negative relationship between the schools and families instead of supporting schools by giving them adequate funding so they can have a transformative educational relationship with those they work with.

I shall refrain from getting really annoyed. I ask Members to note, when speaking, that just because they do not see something does not mean it is not happening. They should open their eyes a little more and engage with family members who experience what I am talking about.

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