Almost half of parents are not paying their bills or cutting back on other spending to meet the cost of sending their children back to school.
Barnardo’s has called for the government to pay for school books to ease the burden that parents face in September.
It costs €355 to cover back-to-school costs for senior infants, €15 more than last year. First-year secondary pupils need an average of €800, up from €775. The cost of sending a fourth-class child back to school has remained at €395.
The new figures are based on a survey of 1,834 parents, the majority of whom have children at primary school. The survey does not include the costs of schoolbags or sports equipment.
Almost half (45 per cent) of parents said that they had to juggle their budget, including cutting back or skipping bills; 9 per cent said that they took money out of their savings and 7 per cent borrowed from a credit union, a moneylender or friends.
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More than half of parents of primary school pupils have applied for state support through the back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance, which offers €125 for children under 11 and €250 for over-12s.
Barnardo’s said that parents were aware that the state’s education system was underfunded, but they did not feel it was their responsibility to “fill the void”. In April Richard Bruton, the education minister, wrote to schools asking them to take steps to reduce the financial burden on parents.
The study, released today, said that many parents were disappointed not to see any reduction in the costs. “The impact of these mounting costs mean many parents are . . . ending up in debt,” June Tinsley, the head of advocacy at Barnardo’s, said.
The budget in October would have to include measures to make education more accessible by offering free school books, she said. “Education unlocks potential but the state is denying many children the key because it is failing to see its fundamental role in ensuring the education system is adequately funded to ensure all children have what they need to learn the curriculum,” Ms Tinsley said.
Most parents of primary school children said that they had access to a schoolbook rental scheme, but many said that schools were often changing texts and asking children to use newer editions, as well as the common use of workbooks which cannot be recycled.