Commenting on the mounting concerns that many families who have applied for the Back to School Allowance may have to wait until late October before receiving the grant, Sinn Féin councillor Thérèse Ruane said: “Children, regardless of their social or economic background, have the right to attend school in comfortable fitting clothing and in this time of economic hardship it is essential that hard pressed families are assisted in preparing their child for school. I am inundated with distressed parents, who cannot afford the costs of uniforms and books needed for their children to get to school. The current fiasco around the processing of the Back to School Allowance reflects a lack of planning and foresight on behalf of the Government. Personnel should have been in place to deal with the increased number of applications.
“I worked as a secondary teacher for more than 10 years: most of the cost of sending a child to school, which according to Barnardo's is between €350 and €805, is spent on text books. I was always critical of the current practice in terms of text book prices, printing of new editions of school books, and I have consistently called for the introduction of a book rental scheme. Many schools and principals are showing great leadership on this issue and the Department of Education should look at best practices of schools with book rental schemes and apply this to all schools.
“We need to see more action on this; current efforts by Minister Quinn are welcome but they do not go far enough. If the Minister is serious about easing the financial burden faced by parents attempting to send their children to school, then he must do all within his power to ensure the Back to School Allowance is paid on time. It is also vital that spiralling costs of sending a child to school be reduced; parents can't take anymore.”
