Dan Boyle (Cork South Central, Green Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 86: To ask the Minister for Education and Science her views on the levels of commercial sponsorship in schools such as highlighted by the commercial free education campaign; if there are plans to ban such schemes; the steps she will take to ensure that schools do not feel obliged to participate in such schemes out of financial necessity; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5710/06]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Commercial marketing in schools can take a variety of forms — from educational materials made available to schools by newspapers to companies offering schemes whereby products are given to the school on the basis of tokens collected by parents. It is at the discretion of management in individual schools to decide what commercial initiatives they want their school to engage with. Clearly some initiatives can be of great benefit to schools. However, others might be seen as putting undue pressures on parents to shop in particular stores.

I recognise the sensitivities attached to the issue of promotion initiatives linking schools, students and parents to commercial activity. However, it would be inappropriate for me to ban all commercial links with schools. I believe that local school management is best placed to ensure that schools only participate in programmes that are appropriate and benefit the school community.

School management should ensure that such schemes do not place undue pressure on parents in terms of requiring additional expenditure, that students are protected from engagement in inappropriate promotional activity and that the schemes are linked to desirable projects serving national educational initiatives.