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Back to school should not mean breaking the bank

On The Money: Parents can face huge financial pressure ahead of the new school term but there are ways to defray the cost

Getting children kitted out to go back to school can be a serious financial burden for many families. Photograph: iStock

Dominic Coyle's face
Dominic Coyle
Fri Aug 11 2023 - 12:40

It seems harsh to be thinking about back to school in early August. For primary school parents, the last school year still seems uncomfortably close. And July’s weather has meant holidays have been a choice between staying indoors at home to avoid the rain or staying indoors abroad to avoid the heat.

But we are just a fortnight away from the new school year for many and, to judge by the stream of stories in print and on radio, dealing with the personal finance costs involved in getting the children set for the new school year is prominent in parents’ thinking.

Across generations of parents, the bugbears have remained the same: the cost of uniforms; the bill for books; (in)voluntary school contributions; school transport; and, in homes where both parents work, after hours’ activities.

The children’s charity Barnardos and the Irish League of Credit Unions (Ilcu) produce annual surveys on back to school costs and the message in both has, depressingly, been the same year after year. Parents are struggling to meet them.

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For 2023, Barnardos says those costs amount to €320 per pupil for a child in fourth class in primary school, rising to a high of €972 for someone entering first year of secondary school and a marginally less onerous €863 for a student starting the Leaving Certificate cycle in fifth year.

These figures include voluntary school contributions.

The Ilcu figures are even higher; at €1,152 per primary school student and €1,288 for those in secondary school. Both of these figures are actually down on last year.

The issue with back to school costs in Ireland is thrown into sharp relief when compared to the United States, where the notion of state subvention is generally seen as a dangerously socialist premise.

Two surveys for the coming year, from KPMG and Deloitte, present significantly different figures for the US, both of which are skewed by the inclusion of college students, whose costs are significantly higher than for those at first and second level. But at an average of $597 (€541) at Deloitte and $377 (€342) at KPMG, they are both comfortably below the costs in Ireland, despite higher average income.

The good news, if you can call it that, is that just 2 per cent of primary school parents told Barnardos flat out that they would not be able to meet the costs involved. This figure rises to 7 per cent among secondary school parents.

However, around half of primary school parents and barely a quarter of those with children at second level say the costs are manageable, with the remainder fretting over the bills. As many as one in 10 secondary school parents say they borrow from family or friends to cover the range of costs.

Ilcu says close to 30 per cent of parents go into debt of, on average, €306 per pupil as a result.

Books

The introduction this year of a national free book scheme at primary school level will see schools getting around €96 per student. Given that schools will be bulk-buying the idea is they should be able to secure better prices than individual parents.

Books are traditionally one of the biggest cost items for parents and the scheme should theoretically ease that burden for parents of younger children, even if schools are still permitted to seek financial support from parents for art materials and photocopying.

Depressingly, in the Ilcu survey, 49 per cent of parents said they had not been told about the scheme by their children’s schools and, as a result, almost one in five were planning to incur unnecessary expense buying books for the new school term.

Even with that caveat there is demand for the scheme to be extended to second level. That would cost an estimated €70 million, according to Government sources.

As it stands, close to half of secondary schools operate a book rental scheme in an effort to reduce costs. However, according to the Barnardos survey, just over half of parents availing of book rental schemes are having to pay over €100 to do so.

Then there is the issue of digital subscriptions. Schools are increasingly turning to technology, with students requiring tablets or laptops in class. On average, Barnardos says, parents are paying €106 in digital subscriptions.

Worse still, according to recent media reports, some parents are also being forced to buy physical textbooks, as the access code for digital materials is printed only in the physical book.

Quite apart from the environmental disaster of manufacturing and buying books that will be largely unused and eventually thrown away, parents are effectively being asked to pay twice for school syllabus materials.

To exacerbate the issue, if they have a second child following along and even if textbooks have not been changed, they will still need to buy another copy of the unneeded physical textbook, because each code can only be used once.

It is reports like that which make it hard to have much sympathy with school book publishers. Technology should reduce the physical cost of publishing school materials and their environmental impact. If not, there is little point beyond easing the weight of a schoolbag.

This is an area where parents should be working with school boards locally and at a national level, with Ministers through national parent representative organisations, and teaching unions for changes to reduce cost and increase sustainability.

Uniforms

Uniforms are the other main headline cost. Some schools lose the run of themselves and require crested items for everything down to basic PE wear.

Parents, increasingly, are revolting against this and cutting back on what they are prepared to buy from school uniform lists and campaigning with ever greater intensity for the use of generic clothing rather than uniform items available only from a single supplier with the inevitable markup.

At worst, one crested jumper and one branded tracksuit should cover most eventualities, even where the school will not simply provide crests for sewing on to generic clothes.

There are other options to reduce costs.

Even private schools are now organising events ahead of the new school year for parents to source second-hand school uniform items from families that have no one to hand them down to, or items abandoned in the inevitably bulging lost and found lockers from the previous school year.

Where schools don’t facilitate this, parents often organise themselves via social media groups, so keep an eye out for those.

That aside, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) advises parents to watch for special return to school promotions on staples such as shirts, trousers, skirts and polo shirts, bearing in mind that stocks of some items can run out fast.

Early is best and bulk buy where you can to accommodate inevitable growth spurts and wear and tear over the year.

Another tip from the CCPC is to seek out discounts offered by retailers after the school year has started, when they may try to offload remaining stock. Where finances allow, this can be a good time to pick up items in a larger size for the following school year.

The same applies for school shoes. Finding a bargain over the summer is unlikely as retailers know they have a captive audience but there is nothing to say you cannot buy school shoes at other times of year when better value may be available.

Other costs

Transport is another area where many families can try to cut costs.

Census figures for 2016 show that almost six in 10 primary school students are driven to school, with the figure dropping to around 42 per cent for secondary school. The figures have risen consistently over time and, for secondary school students, quite dramatically in the past 20 years.

Car pooling or, where distance allows, walking or cycling all help keep costs in check before considering the health benefits of the last two.

After school activities are an important part of the school experience for students as well as bridging the gap between the end of the formal school day and the time many working parents can collect their primary level children.

But they bring their own financial pressure in terms of the cost of the activities themselves and of any necessary equipment.

The CCPC advises that you hold off buying expensive equipment for the first class. Children can often change their minds suddenly about an activity for reasons no more significant than a friend dropping out.

It suggests you ask if your child can attend a first class for free to see if they like it before investing.

Even then, if the equipment involved is expensive, give it a few weeks to be sure they are committed. And don’t forget to use your network of family or friends who may have equipment you can borrow or purchase second-hand to defray the cost.

One “additional cost” that parents should not skimp on is an annual student insurance policy. For a mere pittance, this covers your child against accident and injury not only in the school but all day, every day, regardless of where they were when an accident happens.

Finally, a word on voluntary contributions. I’ve been on a school board and I know just how valuable the income from these can be to often hard-pressed schools. But they are “voluntary”.

Most schools will put out two notices – an initial request and a reminder. For those who can afford to pay them, grand. But some families cannot, that is also fine. There is no need to explain yourself.

More importantly, no pupil or parent should feel pressurised on the subject. You hear horror stories, fortunately rare, of the issue being raised with a child in class, or with a parent by school management. Sometimes children are reportedly denied access to school facilities such as lockers. Any such approach is unethical and you would hope that where it happens other parents would rally round and tell the school to back-off.

You can contact us at OnTheMoney@irishtimes.com with personal finance questions you would like to see us address. If you missed last week’s newsletter, you can read it here.