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THE GOVERNMENT HAS rejected calls to allow parents to find out how voluntary contributions are being used in their childrens’ schools.
These payments, generally in the region of €100 per school year, are requested by schools for use in projects or for general upkeep of the school.
However, Sinn Féin’s education spokesperson Jonathan O’Brien has said that although the payments are intended to be voluntary, ‘the reality on the ground is that parents feel there is an onus on them to pay them’.
“Parents have no idea what the money is being used for,” the TD claimed, adding that services are being withheld is some cases if the fee isn’t paid.
Yesterday, he tabled an amendment to the upcoming Education (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014, but this was rejected.
“The amendments we tabled would, if passed, had ensured that parents would be given access to information to how schools use monies raised used by taking voluntary contributions from students,” O’Brien said in a statement.
Parents are finding it extremely hard to deal with voluntary contributions and we all know that they are not really voluntary at all, with students being denied access to lockers and extra-curricular activities until they are paid in some cases.
Fine Gael Junior Minister Damien English, responding to the Sinn Féin TD at an Education committee yesterday, agreed with O’Brien that schools need to be accountable, and more transparency is welcome, but said the amendments proposed could result in a massive workload for staff if a centralised administration system was used.
He stressed that the issue is one of concern for Minister for Education Jan O’Sullivan, and the collection and use of voluntary contributions will be addressed during the creation of new charter for parents and students.
A spokesperson for the Department of Education said that non-fee-charging schools are not permitted to request payment, but voluntary contributions are permissible “provided it is made absolutely clear to parents that there is no question of compulsion to pay and that, in making a contribution, they are doing so of their own volition”.
Their collection should be such as not to create a situation where either parents or pupils could reasonably infer that the contributions take on a compulsory character.
The Department has no plans to prohibit such voluntary contributions. The draft General Scheme for an Admissions to Schools Bill stipulate that schools will be required to declare that no deposits, fees or contributions will be sought or charged as a condition of application for enrolment or for continued enrolment.
Sean Cottrell from the Irish Primary Principals’ Network said the voluntary contribution is often a last resort due to the years of cuts to the capitation grant, and that often in schools the money is used for one particular project.
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Rip to both. I think the port road is in Kilkenny, though. Really sad day so far. Best wishes to both families.
Will young men ever realise that they are not invincible? There is no reset button on lfe .
@Patrick MC Dermott: And also will we ever provide a transport infrastructure that can keep octogenarians from needing to drive.
@Thesaltyurchin: I’m referring to the unacceptable number of young men being killed almost daily on good straight stretches of road, where they collide with a tree or overturn into a ditch. Cars don’t normally decide to flip over. Octogenarians are less likely to be killed in the same manner.
@Patrick MC Dermott: The article doesn’t mention the circumstance (which allows us to create our own story based on whatever information we imagine)… No doubt they make up nearly a quarter of the current statistics but if you do the maths based on the latest RSA data you’ll see that while 30 people are 16–25 some 90 people are outside this demographic. The age groups of 45+ account for 45 of deaths for example, but there’s less visual association for us to attach our ‘vision’ too.
Every Saturday night, lads in their teens or 20’s, I wonder why?
@GVR: Because they are noticed. They enjoy the aesthetic, we spend all day in cars it’s become a massive part of our culture, but it’s still learned through experience, even now there are people in my extended family who spend all day in a car and know nothing about it. Don’t know how to put air in the tyre, or even drive properly on the Motorway. We should be learning about it in school.
have your say