Campaign to cut school book costs launched [dublinpeople.com]
- Published: 15 June 2011
THE Society of St Vincent de Paul (SVP) is seeking support from Northsiders for its campaign to reduce the publication of unnecessary new school book editions. The charity is asking parents to sign a petition calling on Minister for Education and Skills, Ruairi Quinn, to set up an effective national book rental scheme.
SVP National President, Mairead Bushnell, said the constant flow of unnecessary new editions means that families are continually forced to keep paying for new texts. “Education is a right, and it's supposed to be free,” Ms Bushnell told Northside People. “But Ireland is one of only a few European countries to make even the poorest pay for books. It's a shocking burden on hard-pressed families.
“By the time they leave school, a family with four children could have spent as much as e3,200 on secondary school books alone. Most of the time, can’t even be reused.” In many European countries schoolbook rental schemes are in place, where schools buy the books and rent or loan them out to students in return for a small fee or deposit. This means that teachers can be sure that there are enough copies for all their students.
Ms Bushnell believes a book rental scheme would help every family in Ireland and would reduce the unnecessary amount of money spent on new editions of schoolbooks each year.
Full Story: www.dublinpeople.com
