That’s a fantastic scheme! A little late tbh, they should have done it going back to school this year – would have helped all parents in a tough spot. Better late than never though.
This is great news.
I’ve 2 grandkids, they are in different schools and both are in book rental schemes.
One, paid €130 and still had to pay €100 on books.
The other paid €80 and only had to buy a storage box for their books.
I think most parents would quite happily pay €80 and buy a storage box each year.
Books themselves are ridiculously expensive.
On Today FM news earlier they specifically said “textbooks”, so I’m wondering if there is a distinction. Most of my spend for the last few years (having 2 up to 3rd class) has been on *work*books, which obviously can’t go back into a rental scheme.
This is brilliant news, I paid over 250 euro for 2 primary school children this year on books alone,
I will have 3 in primary school next year and we don’t receive other supports so it will make a huge difference.
This is such a relief. I’ve 2 in primary, and it ain’t cheap
We actually end up paying ‘Rent’ of certain schoolbooks, which can be just as much as the books themselves in some cases.
Not sure how this is going to be effected. I’d imagine if schoolbooks are free, renting them should be free too?
The wealthy getting this aswell. They’re getting the energy credits. They’re getting the double child benefit. They get the increased higher tax entry.
A lot of money going to the rich.
If school is mandatory why doesn’t the state provide free books to everyone?
A lot of schoolbooks could be gotten rid of as well. When I was doing my Leaving Cert, only two of my subjects used them.
School books are better off being regulated and paid for by government. The book companies have been taking the piss for years by releasing new editions with truly minor changes every 2 years so you can’t pass books down to the next kid. Realistically books should be bought by the school,reviewed every 5 years if a new edition is needed, and given to students. A rental deposit could help ensure the books are kept neat, or parents asked to buy the book if the child damages it.
Love this. Cynics will still pick it apart and say it’s not good enough but this is a fantastic thing for families going forward , no other way around it
It would help parents a lot more if the books for secondary school were free, or provided by the schools themselves
This is a fantastic start!
“This is a necessary legal development. I am aware of a case being prepared which would have challenged this policy of charging for books on the basis of the constitutional guarantee to provide for a free primary education.” – Gareth Noble
This is huge in fairness. I remember when I was in school 10+ years ago my parents were paying over 400 for me and my 3 siblings for our books.
The fact that we even needed some books each year was a farce, new edition every year with the bare minimal changes.
It was really, really weird moving here and finding out that taxpayer-funded schools still ask for money from parents. Is the contribution fee *really* voluntary? What happens if I don’t pay? What is it for? I thought school costs were supposed to be covered by taxes?
Free? Or payed for out of taxes?
Great initiative, and well overdue. We’ve 3 kids in primary and books came to almost €400 this year. I was pretty pissed with the school when I spotted that a few of last years books were less than 1/3 completed…
Watch the schools cop onto the cost of books and start giving kids photo copies of workbooks to complete instead. Which will be passed onto parents….
I wonder will this be actually free books or will parents still need to pay towards a book rental scheme.
Don’t get me wrong, book rental schemes are great but what each school charges can vary wildly, not to mention paying to rent school books isn’t “free school books”.
Either way, it’s an excellent measure and will save a lot of families a lot of money. Hopefully it’s a fully free scheme though.
Just as my lad is in his last year of primary school. No chance of free secondary books!
20 comments
That’s a fantastic scheme! A little late tbh, they should have done it going back to school this year – would have helped all parents in a tough spot. Better late than never though.
This is great news.
I’ve 2 grandkids, they are in different schools and both are in book rental schemes.
One, paid €130 and still had to pay €100 on books.
The other paid €80 and only had to buy a storage box for their books.
I think most parents would quite happily pay €80 and buy a storage box each year.
Books themselves are ridiculously expensive.
On Today FM news earlier they specifically said “textbooks”, so I’m wondering if there is a distinction. Most of my spend for the last few years (having 2 up to 3rd class) has been on *work*books, which obviously can’t go back into a rental scheme.
This is brilliant news, I paid over 250 euro for 2 primary school children this year on books alone,
I will have 3 in primary school next year and we don’t receive other supports so it will make a huge difference.
This is such a relief. I’ve 2 in primary, and it ain’t cheap
We actually end up paying ‘Rent’ of certain schoolbooks, which can be just as much as the books themselves in some cases.
Not sure how this is going to be effected. I’d imagine if schoolbooks are free, renting them should be free too?
The wealthy getting this aswell. They’re getting the energy credits. They’re getting the double child benefit. They get the increased higher tax entry.
A lot of money going to the rich.
If school is mandatory why doesn’t the state provide free books to everyone?
A lot of schoolbooks could be gotten rid of as well. When I was doing my Leaving Cert, only two of my subjects used them.
School books are better off being regulated and paid for by government. The book companies have been taking the piss for years by releasing new editions with truly minor changes every 2 years so you can’t pass books down to the next kid. Realistically books should be bought by the school,reviewed every 5 years if a new edition is needed, and given to students. A rental deposit could help ensure the books are kept neat, or parents asked to buy the book if the child damages it.
Love this. Cynics will still pick it apart and say it’s not good enough but this is a fantastic thing for families going forward , no other way around it
It would help parents a lot more if the books for secondary school were free, or provided by the schools themselves
This is a fantastic start!
“This is a necessary legal development. I am aware of a case being prepared which would have challenged this policy of charging for books on the basis of the constitutional guarantee to provide for a free primary education.” – Gareth Noble
https://twitter.com/GarNob/status/1574294107685625857
This is huge in fairness. I remember when I was in school 10+ years ago my parents were paying over 400 for me and my 3 siblings for our books.
The fact that we even needed some books each year was a farce, new edition every year with the bare minimal changes.
It was really, really weird moving here and finding out that taxpayer-funded schools still ask for money from parents. Is the contribution fee *really* voluntary? What happens if I don’t pay? What is it for? I thought school costs were supposed to be covered by taxes?
Free? Or payed for out of taxes?
Great initiative, and well overdue. We’ve 3 kids in primary and books came to almost €400 this year. I was pretty pissed with the school when I spotted that a few of last years books were less than 1/3 completed…
Watch the schools cop onto the cost of books and start giving kids photo copies of workbooks to complete instead. Which will be passed onto parents….
I wonder will this be actually free books or will parents still need to pay towards a book rental scheme.
Don’t get me wrong, book rental schemes are great but what each school charges can vary wildly, not to mention paying to rent school books isn’t “free school books”.
Either way, it’s an excellent measure and will save a lot of families a lot of money. Hopefully it’s a fully free scheme though.
Just as my lad is in his last year of primary school. No chance of free secondary books!