Publishers criticised over change to textbooks [IrishTimes]
- Published: 29 April 2011
TEACHERS' UNION OF IRELAND: MINISTER FOR Education Ruairí Quinn has promised to examine the practice by publishing companies of frequently issuing new editions of schoolbooks amid concerns that parents are finding themselves under pressure financially to ensure their children have the latest version of texts.
Mr Quinn said the issue had been raised with him by teachers at both the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland annual conference in Cork and the Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) annual congress in Tralee. He recognised there was genuine concern that it was causing hardship for families already struggling with the impact of the recession.
“I have no immediate plans to meet with the publishers but this has been raised at two trade union congresses. I’m a Labour Party member and Minister of the Government and we came here to listen, we have heard what they said, it is now a responsibility for us to look at their concerns and see what can we do about it, if we can,” he said.
Union president Bernie Ruane said she had been contacted by the St Vincent de Paul and she shared the charity’s concern that the practice of constantly issuing new editions of school texts was putting unnecessary expense on parents.
“Parents are now seeking help from St Vincent de Paul to buy schoolbooks for their children. These are not necessarily parents who are unemployed and who have medical cards. These are parents who have suddenly been hit by this recession and cannot cope with the ever-increasing price of schoolbooks,” she said.
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