asked the Minister for Education the estimated cost of school books for a pupil who attends secondary school for the full cycle; and if she will consider providing the pump priming finance necessary to get a school book rental system off the ground in secondary schools.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - School Book Costs.
12.
The cost of school books for a post-primary pupil in any one year can vary widely, depending on such factors as the range and type of subjects studied, the choice of textbooks, and whether the books are bought new or second-hand. No official study has been made which would enable me to give authoritative information in reply to the question from the Deputy.
In current financial circumstances it would not be open to me to make an amendment to the existing arrangements for aid towards the cost of school-books.
Grants are made towards the cost of providing school books, including second-hand books, for necessitous pupils, but there is no provision in the estimates for the kind of finance referred to in the question. There is, however, a scheme in operation which provides financial assistance towards the cost of providing books and school accessories for pupils in need of such assistance.
The Minister's answer is not in line with the spirit of the question. It specifically relates to initiating a rental system, which would be very desirable, given the high cost of school books. Surely the Minister is in a position to at least encourage such a pilot scheme in some schools? She could give her imprimatur to that and I request her to do that in selected schools. Is she prepared to do this within the present tight financial restraints that bind the Department?
In the financial year 1982, £1,185,000 was provided for a scheme of assistance to about 28 per cent of day pupils in second level schools. The question of establishing a rental system is one of particular interest and I assure the Deputy I am having that matter looked at.
Would the Minister accept that her officials are not being as kind as they should if they tell her they cannot give her the estimated cost of schools books for secondary schools? If they cannot do that it must be that the Minister did not want to hear it.
Approximate costing is the only one possible and the inspectorate's estimate of the position — I stress that it is an estimate — is that the present estimated cost of school books for a pupil attending a secondary school for the full cycle of five years could vary within the range of £154 to £308.
There seems to be an element of discrimination in the Minister's response to the question from the Deputy from her party. Will she state the criteria used for necessitous pupils as envisaged by the Minister's bureaucrats and by herself?
The criterion of necessitous students is one which the school authorities judge in their view.
Will not the Minister agree that in the application of the criteria which are clearly thought out individually by principals and sometimes in consultation with their colleagues in other schools, there still remain many parents in certain schools who cannot afford the high cost of books? Will she look in the records of her Department for a submission from me in October 1981 in which I indicate 67 parents in one school where a grant was given who could not afford to make the payment for books?
I am well aware of the financial strain placed on parents in providing school textbooks for their children. The Department have issued circulars to secondary school authorities reminding them of the desirability of changing non-prescribed textbooks as infrequently as possible in order to save parents undue expenditure.
With regard to the money available to schools for the purchase of books for students whose parents cannot afford them, will the Minister state if there are schools in this city or in the country who have this grant but do not use it? Also, are there schools for which the grant is totally inadequate? Has she any means of redirecting money that is not being used?
That is a separate question.