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LAST UPDATE | 26 Sep 2022
THERE HAS BEEN a widespread welcome for a move that will see the State provide free school books for all primary school students from next September.
It’s understood the initiative will be announced tomorrow as part of Budget 2023 and comes following years of lobbying by parents’ groups and charities.
Unlike once-off cost-of-living measures to combat the energy crisis, the school books initiative is to be a permanent measure, with €47 million allocated for the scheme next year.
Education Minister Norma Foley is expected to officially announce the school books plan tomorrow and will also confirm a 1 point reduction in the average pupil teacher ratio to 23:1.
Responding to the news this morning, chief executive of the Children’s Rights Alliance Tanya Ward said free school book will make a real difference to many children.
“Free school books was a big part of the #NoChild2020 campaign. Government committed to a pilot then. This Budget will make it national so all children can benefit,” she tweeted.
Ward added that free school books was “the norm in Europe and in Northern Ireland” and is a “significant measure” to assist in the battle against child poverty.
Opposition parties have consistently called for a free school books scheme, with Labour saying in June that an emergency cost-of-living budget should include the measure.
Sinn Féin published a Dáil motion to cut back-to-school costs in July which noted that a free school books scheme has been in operation in Northern Ireland since 1947.
Speaking today, Labour’s education spokesperson Aodhán Ó Ríordáin TD said: “Proud of our Labour campaign for free school books which we’ve consistently called for every budget cycle. We’ve put this measure at the top of the education agenda and it’s finally coming to fruition. We’ll wait to see the details tomorrow but this is a positive move.”
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We all know school books could have been made cheaper years ago by digital copies and the removal of workbooks.
@Craic_a_tower: watch those digital copies & scrapping of workbooks come into play quickly now.
@Cliodhna: except the digital copies will cost just as much as the physical ones and you’ll have to get an IPad from a specific supplier to have the app on it.
@Craic_a_tower: Many studies confirm that reading comprehension is better with physical books than with eBooks. Although young people may read more quickly on an eReader, the speed and potential distractions of links, scrolling, and advertisements usually mean people remember and retain what they are reading better in physical books.
@Kárl: that makes sense.
@Craic_a_tower: Digital copies will be subject to yearly licensing or subscription fees. There’ll be no saving. The only benefit will be they’ll be easier to carry but build in the cost of a tablet of some sort and it’ll likely be more expensive overall.
@Derek Power: That just isnt true. Any Tablet can run the apps, as long as the licence for the books can be paid for. Many schools using thesse protrammes are also giving the tablets out to the students on an annual rental, or in some schhols,free (but the remain the schoos property and are locked down to only use school Apps.
@Barry Sorensen: how much are the apps?
@Craic_a_tower: student hate using digital books.
@JedBartlett: they can be done that way or they can be licensed another way. There is no need to stick with that licensing model. They have so far to protect the publishing industry. Another player can come in and provide a better fee rate and terms. Always surprised parents don’t get together and write them. Maths hasn’t really changed and there are lots of freely available information. Licensing is all well and good for new information but we all know the publishing practices and versions were to extort money from parents that has been going on for decades. People will lose their jobs as a result and that was why it was allowed to continue
@Craic_a_tower: Digital Copies mean you have to buy a laptop (NOT a tablet! Please, let’s get some keyboard skills too!).
@sean o’dhubhghaill: no it doesn’t and laptops are cheaper and probably a better idea.
English, Irish and maths never change. So every year there is always a new edition. For what?
1plus 1 is always going to be two, cat will always be spelt CAT. This has been a huge money earner to those supplying books year in year out.
@Dave Barrett: As someone who used to be involved in selling school books, for the retailer these new editions were a nightmare. The publishers make a fortune but retailers got little or nothing. The usual margin on school books was 10 to 15%, most independent retailers covered books for free to stay competitive which ate into the margin,extra staff had to be hired to keep up with demand and the publishers only allow you to return only 5% of the value of what you ordered over the year, the rest was left in storage until the next year but they’d bring out a new addition which made the stock from the year before useless. I pulled the plug on the service 3 years ago and it was the best decision I made. Still have hundreds of old editions that can’t be used in the classroom in storage.
@Dave Barrett: while I agree there’s an excessive amount of new editions. The teaching of English Irish and Maths does change.
Can they backdate that to 1995?
@Piggy: if only. Remember 15 pounds child benefit, lol.
Have to laugh at Aodhán Ó Ríordáin, ‘every budget’, just minus the ones Labour where in power over.
While a good thing, September 2023??
@David Walters: I think at this stage most kids would have there books for this school year
@Thinkaboutit: *their
It’s almost as if Labour were never in a position to demand this was is budgets in the past.
Timing eh!
@iohanx: budget?!
A case is 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. The government didn’t want that embarrassment
@Shukran Don Dada: ah ha!
Irish School books cost a fortune, despite the curriculum barely changing in over 30 years yet we have the WORST quality children’s books in Europe by far. Certain schools never seem to change supplier, smells of a cartel. We’ll see if this changes when the government pay for it, I hope so but I would be doubtful.
Gaeilge Maths and English doesn’t change every school term ! So you’d have to question the consistency of “new” versions per school term. Who in the Dept of Ed thinks its acceptable EVERY year ? Mandatory uniform suppliers are disgracefully extortionate in pricing also.
Luckily I still have the receipt!!??
Lease them
Great news. Will be interesting to see the sudden change in new addition and single use workbooks now the government will be footing the bill.
Surely one set per household unless twins/triplets. Also if the books are already bought why should there be a subsidy? People will just end up with 6 sets of 6 kids.
@Peter McGlynn: what subsidy? Why one set of books per household. How would that work if you have large age gaps? What if your kids go to different schools. How about the school orders the books and distributes to the children in their class each year like they already do with the book scheme books?
What happened to “free education”
Cheers
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