The Social Democrats have said the government must restore capitation rates for primary schools in this year\u2019s Budget to ease the unsustainable burden on parents of subsidising the State\u2019s \u2018free education\u2019.<\/p>\n
The party\u2019s co-leader R\u00f3is\u00edn Shortall TD made the call following reports today of analysis by Grant Thornton which shows that parents are forking out \u20ac46 million a year to keep the country\u2019s primary schools running.<\/p>\n
Deputy Shortall said:<\/p>\n
\u201cOur Constitution says that the State will provide free primary education \u2013 yet the costs many parents face shows that we are failing children and families when it comes to this most basic and fundamental provision.<\/p>\n
\u201cPrimary school capitation grants from the Department of Education are supposed to cover schools\u2019 running costs, but as today\u2019s analysis shows this clearly is not the case. It is just not sustainable for schools to rely on parents and the local community for half the money they need for day-to-day bills.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Minister for Education needs to ensure that this year\u2019s Budget includes the restoration of the annual capitation payments for primary schools to the 2010 level of \u20ac200 per pupil \u2013 up from the current \u20ac170.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the Social Democrats\u2019 Alternative Budget last year, we put the cost of introducing genuinely free primary education at \u20ac103.2m in a full year. This includes a restoration of capitation payments to 2010 levels. It would also mean that families would not have to cover the costs of funds for text books and workbooks, and it would deliver free transport for students who qualify for the School Transport Scheme.\u201d<\/p>\n
ENDS<\/p>\n
23 April 2018<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Social Democrats have said the government must restore capitation rates for primary schools in this year\u2019s Budget to ease the unsustainable burden on parents of subsidising the State\u2019s \u2018free education\u2019. The party\u2019s co-leader R\u00f3is\u00edn Shortall TD made the call following reports today of analysis by Grant Thornton which shows that parents are forking out […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,7,264],"tags":[40,16,17],"class_list":["post-488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-latest-news","category-press-release","category-roisin-shortall","tag-department-of-education","tag-roisin-shortall","tag-social-democrats"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n