Families turn to charity to pay for back to school

Hundreds of struggling Galway families have had to turn to charity to help them meet the cost of sending their children back to school and college.

Between 300 and 400 people have sought help from the Society of St Vincent de Paul in the past six weeks alone to cover education costs, according to Madge McGreal, manager at the Society’s Galway office at Ozanam House, Augustine Street in Galway city.

Scores more in the county, and the West region, contacted their nearest SVP Conferences directly through local helplines throughout rural parts of Galway as well as in Mayo and Roscommon.

Ms McGreal confirmed demand is steady.

“It’s difficult to gauge but we are busy, very busy. It’s about the same as last year . . . We will be a lot busier now over the next couple of weeks with the CAO offers for third level courses out now,” she said.

The news comes against the backdrop of a recent survey of parents carried out by the children’s charity Barnardos which estimated the total of cost of sending a Senior Infant to school is €365 – but the cost of kitting out a student for First Year is closer to €800.

And that figure does not include school bags or sports equipment but does include the controversial ‘voluntary contribution’ – estimated between €100 and €150, even if many schools look for much more than that.

“Most primary school parents pay under €100 but a third pay over €100 with some paying as much as €350. More than half (55%) of secondary school parents pay over €100 with some parents reporting one off contributions of up to €850,” said the report.

In return, the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance is just €100 for primary pupils and €200 for eligible second level students – a figure that has already been halved by Government.

See full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune.