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Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 12 Nov 1968

Vol. 237 No. 1

Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - School Text Books.

57.

asked the Minister for Education if he is aware that students in the city of Dublin are being caused great inconvenience in having to travel around different book-shops trying to obtain the prescribed text books; and if he will request secondary schools to make provision for stocking these texts on the school premises.

58.

asked the Minister for Education if he will take steps to bring about some standardisation of text books in secondary schools so as to eliminate some of the considerable cost involved in providing different texts for successive children of the same family.

With your permission, a Cheann Comhairle, I propose to take questions No. 57 and No. 58 together.

Regarding Question 58, I would refer the Deputy to my reply on 6th November, 1968, to Question 81 on this subject. I do not think it is necessary to add anything to that reply.

Concerning the other question the Deputy has raised I am afraid that it is not open to me to request managers of secondary schools to stock text books on the school premises. This is a matter for the individual school manager in every case.

Is there no way in which the Minister for Education could arrange with school managers to have those text books stocked and save unfortunate children and parents travelling around the city year after year? Surely the Minister is aware that, 25 or 30 years ago, in rural secondary schools this was the usual practice and is it asking too much to have it revived here in Dublin now?

The Deputy will probably be aware that some schools do this——

——and no doubt he will also be aware that, if schools were to stock these, in many cases they would be stocking only new text books whereas many children hope to get them secondhand. I know that some schools organise the passing on of secondhand text books but not all, by any means. I think it would certainly be an advantage if many more of them did this but the Minister for Education is not in a position to insist that they do it.

Surely it would be just as easy for the schools to arrange to have secondhand books as it is for the secondhand shops? I see no difficulty in having secondhand as well as new text books in the schools.

There are some who do it but the Minister for Education is not in a position to insist on this.

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