Pupils held to ransom on voluntary contribution

Second-level pupils are a number of schools around the county are being denied basic services like lockers and homework journals – because their parents haven’t paid the voluntary contribution.

And other schools are lumping the cost of locker rental and book hire, insurance and homework journals into a request for the controversial contribution – which the Department of Education has insisted is not obligatory.

The lack of lockers has left teenagers with massive bags of books to carry to and from school on their backs every day.

The issue was highlighted this week on Galway Bay FM’s Keith Finnegan Show, where Cllr Mary Hoade offered to take up the case on behalf of the students.

She asked the programme not to name the schools until she had a chance to address the issue – but she also admitted that she herself has had representations in relation to three post-primary schools over the voluntary contribution scheme.

The controversy arose as the Galway branch of the Society of St Vincent de Paul revealed a sizeable growth in requests from families for help with the cost of going back to school.

SVP West Regional President Michael McCann said that they had received almost 260 calls in the past month from cash-strapped parents who are looking for assistance with education costs.

The number of calls was well up on previous years – and many relate to the voluntary contribution, which many parents feel is compulsory as they do not want their children left without any facilities or services that their schoolmates can avail of.

Michael McCann acknowledged that the back to school period is proving very stressful for many parents. He added that their services have come under extreme pressure over the past few weeks.

See full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune