Parents under pressure as schools up the ante on ‘voluntary contributions’

Date Published: 30-Nov-2011

Parents are baulking at coughing up for “voluntary contributions” of at least €250, leaving schools unable to meet their running costs for the year.

A number of Galway schools have written more than once to parents urging them to pay up the yearly fee. One school stated that just a third of parents had made the payment three months into the school year.

The National Parents Council Post Primary (NPCPP) said it had been inundated with parents complaining about the pressure being put on them to hand over the fee, even when they indicated they were unable to do so.

The council’s president Tommy Walshe said he was aware of a number of schools where the pupils are being called to the principal’s office to enquire about the contribution.

“We have been calling for regulation of the voluntary contribution. It needs to be voluntary especially in these hard times when parents are struggling to pay for heating and electricity and just to put food on the table,” he told the Connacht Tribune.

“A lot of the calls we are getting in at the minute are parents who are worried that they can’t afford it and is there anything they can do about it. One parents told me she was going without meals to pay the voluntary contribution.”

The council had received many complaints about their children being called out of the classroom enquiring about the payment, which was putting pressure on them in front of their peers.

“It’s letting others know those who haven’t paid the voluntary contribution, especially if it’s the principal that’s doing the calling. This is unacceptable,” Mr Walshe stated.

The secondary school teachers’ union , the ASTI, said schools are being increasing forced to impose the contribution because of severe underfunding.

“We are hearing from our principals that the funding they are getting from the department does not meet their day to day requirements. They are not able to meet their bills and that’s why they engage in fundraising,” spokesman Gemma Tussy stated.

Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn has stated that schools are not allowed to ask parents to pay voluntary contributions up front, before their child has been allocated a place.

“It is a voluntary scheme and people cannot be punished because they don’t have the money,” he said.

See full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune.