Schools have doubled voluntary contribution
SCHOOLS are doubling the amount of money they’re asking from parents in ‘voluntary contributions’ as the cost of living crisis deepens, according to St Vincent de Paul.
The charity says some hardpressed parents have seen the controversial charge hiked from an average €100 last year to €200, amid renewed calls for the payments to be scrapped.
Tricia Keilthy, head of social justice and policy at the charity, told the Irish Mail on Sunday that many schools are disguising the payments by no longer referring to them as voluntary contributions.
‘What we hear is that it is not being called a voluntary contribution in some schools any more,’ she said. ‘They may call it a family or parent contribution, or a locker fee or a photocopying fee.
‘We know schools are under pressure because there is a lack of funding. Prior to the cost-of-living crisis, the funding wasn’t enough to meet running costs and obviously now schools will have bigger bills. But it’s not fair to ask parents to subsidise our under-funded education,’ Ms Keilthy said.
‘We need to see the Government invest in the capitation grant and we want to see an end to voluntary contributions over the next couple of years.’
She said that parents will receive more requests for money from schools throughout the school year, putting more pressure on families.
‘Loads of parents who are struggling would divide the year into the run-up to going back to school and the run-up to Christmas. It’s about ensuring their kids get what they need and don’t feel different from their friends. ‘Sometimes schools split the contribution between September and January. There may be school trips that come up and fundraising events: these kinds of things happen throughout the year. That worry about a letter coming from school about another cost doesn’t go away after September time, unfortunately.’
The National Parents’ Council reiterated its call earlier this week to abolish voluntary contributions. It said schools shouldn’t need to put financial pressure on parents to pay for basic running expenses.
‘The cost is quite significant in some schools and it can often be for core expenses like heating and light,’ said chief executive Áine Lynch. ‘We feel the capitation grant needs to be increased so we can scrap voluntary contributions completely.
‘The cost-of-living crisis adds to the pressure that families are under with back-to-school costs, and it’s multiplied by the number of children they have. So it’s really becoming a more significant issue,’ Ms Lynch added.
Sinn Féin’s education spokesman Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire told the MoS that the funding gap for education should be identified so schools do not need these payments.
‘It’s a real damning indictment of our education system that you have these so-called voluntary contributions, that schools have to send begging letters and fundraise just to keep the lights on, just to pay for the gas, just to pay for toilet paper and stationery,’ he said.
‘It’s clear that our schools are not properly funded. What that results in is schools having to ask parents. The majority of schools don’t want to be in this position but unfortunately some schools do put families under quite a lot of pressure. Even though the payments are theoretically voluntary, a lot of parents don’t feel like they’re voluntary.’
Mr Ó Laoghaire said there was a danger schools would ask for more this year because of energy costs.
‘When you take into consideration the fact that schools are facing the same energy crisis as the rest of us and that they were already underfunded, I don’t think it would be an enormous surprise to see voluntary contributions increasing.’
The Back-to-School Allowance was increased by €100 earlier this year. Figures from the Department of Social Protection show that more than €79.5m has been paid to 141,679 families, with 252,956 children benefiting. Last year it was paid to 137,038 families for 252,256 children.
‘Some schools do put parents under pressure’