MINISTER FOR Education Ruairí Quinn has urged publishers to reduce the cost of books as second-level schools reopen.
Following meetings with education publishers, parents’ representatives and the charity St Vincent de Paul, Mr Quinn said publishers needed to reduce costs for parents and schools.
“My main objective in proposing these measures is to ensure that costs to students and their families are kept to a minimum and I believe that a number of steps can contribute substantially to achieving this objective,” Mr Quinn said, in what the Department of Education described as a “significant departure” from previous policy.
Any such changes would not take effect in time for this year’s classes, as primary schools are already open with second-level students returning over this week.
A voluntary code of practice put in place by the publishers earlier this year was welcomed by Mr Quinn as a “significant step in the right direction”. However he said it does not go far enough.
Chairman of the National Parents Council Primary Philip Mudge welcomed the proposals, saying schemes which take the parents into account are crucial.
“Separate workbooks are definitely a good thing. The discount to schools should be given, there is a reduced cost there which should be passed on.”
A spokeswoman for the National Parents’ Council Post-Primary, Jackie O’Callaghan, also welcomed the Minister’s suggestions saying she was pleased he was addressing the issue of cost.
“We’d like to see book rentals schemes in place to cover all the basic books.
“The cost of going back to school is high enough so the proposals need to go further,” Ms O’Callaghan said.
A survey of school costs released by children’s charity Barnardos earlier this month found that back to school expenses can range from €350 for junior infants to €805 for second-level students.
Primary schools opened last week, taking in 514,600 pupils, according to the department. Secondary schools opened yesterday initially for first-year students, with 322,500 students returning over the course of this week.
The costs of books: Savings outlined
Proposals made by Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn include
* Reducing the costs of books used in English, Irish, mathematics and other popular subjects;
* Making bulk-buying discounts available to schools;
* Publishing textbooks and workbooks in separate volumes to allow for re-use of books;
* Providing online support material for teachers to decrease printing costs.