Majority of parents feel pressure over voluntary payment

20% increase in calls to St Vincent de Paul

MORE THAN half of parents feel under pressure to pay a voluntary contribution to their child’s primary school, with almost one in four saying that schools look for more than €100.

Almost one in ten parents say that their child’s school expects them to pay over €200, according to a recent survey of parents by the National Parents Council.

Last night a spokesman for the St Vincent de Paul said parents are even being barraged by reminder texts from her children’s schools to pay the so-called ‘voluntary’ fee.

They said one parent they know of is in mortgage arrears and already regularly receives phone calls from her bank.

The survey discovered that 76% of families say that their child’s school asks for a voluntary contribution every year, with 73% claiming that the contribution is not asked for anonymously.

One fifth of those questioned say that the school looks for up to €50, with 37% saying that this figure is between €50 and €100. A further 30% pay between €100 and €200.

The Department of Education has said voluntary contributions are permissible ‘provided it is made absolutely clear to parents that there is no question of compulsion to pay and that, in making a contribution, they are doing so of their own volition’.

Commenting on the figures, Laura Erskine, head of community at Mummypages.ie, said that voluntary contributions should be outlawed.

‘Our mums tell us that the second most expensive aspect of the school bill is the annual “voluntary contribution” which, according to our own MummyPages research, ranges from as little as €75 in small country schools to as much as €300 per child per year, in popular public secondary schools in Dublin and Cork,’ she said.

‘While this additional expense for parents is deemed to be voluntary, the experience of our mums is quite the opposite with repeated letters, texts and emails sent home demanding rather than requesting payment.’

Ms Erskine added: ‘If more money was invested in schools by the Government, then schools wouldn’t need to put addithat tional pressure on parents for this payment.

‘In fact, our community of mums don’t begrudge the schools the money, which generally goes towards everything from upgrading classroom technology to basic expenses like keeping the lights on and the school warm in winter – they just don’t appreciate the financial pressure it puts them under at back-to-school time.’

When asked if they were given information by the school on what the contribution goes towards, said that they were not provided with any details.

Of those who did know details of the schools’ expenditure, school equipment, art supplies and photocopying were the most common costs.

These figures have been included in an opening statement due to be presented by the National Parents Council to the Joint Committee of Education and Skills tomorrow.

A recent Back to School survey carried out by Barnardos showed over one third of parents claim to be in debt due to backto-school costs, an increase on 29% from last year. These rising costs have led to charities, as well as parenting and education groups, to call on the Government to increase the capitation grants given to schools to reduce the need for parental contribution.

St Vincent de Paul has said there has been a 20% increase in the number of parents this year seek28% ing help with back-to-school costs.

It said it was expecting to receive more than 6,000 calls from parents by the end of the month.

The organisation is calling for the capitation grant, which was cut in 2010, to be restored.

The grant is money that the department gives to a school to cover running costs. It was €200 per student in 2010, and has dropped to €170 since then.