Minister Foley announces details of a new scheme to eliminate the cost of schoolbooks for families of Junior Cycle students
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From: Department of Education
- Published on: 5 March 2024
- Last updated on: 24 June 2024
Minister for Education Norma Foley has today (Tuesday) announced details of a new groundbreaking scheme which provides free schoolbooks to Junior Cycle students in post-primary schools in the Free Education Scheme.
More than 212,000 students enrolled in approximately 670 post-primary schools, will benefit from the new scheme.
Schools will also separately be provided with an Administration Support Grant to assist with the roll-out and implementation of the scheme and to relieve any additional administrative burden.
The investment of over €68 million in 2024 significantly increases the funding that is currently provided for schoolbooks and introduces a free schoolbooks scheme to Junior Cycle years in all post-primary schools in the Free Education Scheme. It reinforces the government’s commitment to expand the free schoolbooks scheme to schools nationwide, as resources allow.
This scheme will ensure that parents and guardians of students enrolled in Junior Cycle years in post-primary schools in the Free Education Scheme will not be asked to buy or rent any schoolbooks for the 2024/25 school year.
The scheme will provide, at a minimum, free schoolbooks, and core classroom resources for all students in Junior Cycle years in post-primary schools in the free scheme in the 2024/25 school year, easing the financial burdens facing families during back-to-school time.
Special schools in which children and young people with special educational needs are enrolled in Junior Cycle programmes will also receive the Junior Cycle rate in respect of these students in 2024/25.
Minister Foley said:
“Following the successful implementation of the schoolbooks scheme at primary level in 2023, I am delighted to announce details of the funding package of over €68 million for the introduction of a landmark new scheme that will provide schoolbooks to all Junior Cycle students in post-primary schools within the Free Education System.
"This ground-breaking, permanent measure will ease some of the financial burden facing families with back-to-school costs.
"The transition from primary to post-primary can put an increased financial burden on families, and I am heartened to see that children and young people will now benefit from the free schoolbooks scheme as they progress through the Junior Cycle.
"By providing our young people in Junior Cycle years with free school books and core classroom resources, we are enhancing their educational experience, not just in the classroom but reaching out into the family home.”
Minister of State for Special Education and Inclusion Josepha Madigan said:
“The delivery of this Programme for Government commitment will make a real difference to back-to-schools costs for parents and guardians of students with special educational needs attending mainstream and special classes in post-primary schools.
"Importantly, where a student in a special school is enrolled in Junior Cycle programmes the school will receive the post-primary schoolbooks rate, which will further support their learning and development.
"As with the primary scheme, schools have the flexibility to use funding to purchase classroom resources to meet the specific learning needs of students once the cost of schoolbooks and core classroom resources are met. This flexibility is particularly important for students with special educational needs.”
The objective of the new scheme is about ensuring every child and young person enrolled in Junior Cycle years in post-primary schools in the Free Education Scheme have the resources required to access education and easing the financial burdens surrounding the back-to-school costs,which can be a cause of financial difficulty for many families each year.
This new scheme means that:
- schoolbooks, and core classroom resources such as journals, copybooks, dictionaries and calculators will be provided for all students in Junior Cycle years in post-primary schools in the Free Education Scheme. There is no need parents or guardians to buy or rent these items
- schools will be provided with sufficient funding to cover the costs of providing these items
- schoolbooks are the property of the school and must be returned at the end of the school year or the Junior Cycle
- schools will be provided with additional administration support in the form of an Administration Support Grant
To support the administration of this scheme, the department is allocating an Administration Support Grant to post-primary schools for the 2024/25 school year, based on the size of the school, to assist with any additional work required in order to implement the scheme. Schools may use this grant to employ an individual to carry out administrative work on the scheme or use the money towards other administrative costs associated with implementing the scheme.
The department is issuing guidance for post-primary schools and any post-primary schools with queries about the scheme can contact the department directly.
The department has published guidance for schools and information for parents on how the new scheme will operate.
Notes
Background
Book rental schemes currently in post primary schools
The Department of Education already provides a book grant of some €10.7 million to all post-primary schools within the Free Education Scheme in order to provide assistance for books, including book rental schemes and all schools are encouraged to operate book rental schemes to help alleviate costs to parents.
Young people in Senior Cycle years in schools participating in the DEIS programme receive an allocation of €39 per pupil (an additional €15 per pupil compared to non-DEIS schools) which will continue for the 2024/25 school year.
Under the existing book rental scheme, which is set out in Circular 46/2013, it is a matter for the board of management of each school to decide on its own policy in relation to the use of this funding in the school but schools are expected to adopt a cost-conscious approach to the selection of books for use in their classes.
School book rental schemes can make a very significant difference to the cost of providing schoolbooks for children and young people. The department produced guidelines in 2012 for schools on operating school book rental schemes. These guidelines aimed to assist schools in the establishment and running of book rental schemes. The guidelines provided principles of good practice based on the experience of schools and parents’ associations that operated successful rental schemes. In addition, at that time the main Irish educational publishers agreed to apply a Code of Practice designed to help reduce the cost of schoolbooks for parents and schools.
Many post-primary schools currently operate some form of book rental scheme.
The Junior Cycle Schoolbooks Scheme
The implementation of the new scheme will build on the existing free schoolbook scheme which is available in all recognised primary schools including special schools.
The scheme has been established on the basis that funds will be provided directly to schools to purchase school books, and classroom resources. Schools buy books and resources directly from school book suppliers at present as part of the implementation of a schoolbook rental scheme.
Schools will be permitted discretion in how the schoolbook grant funding is used, on the basis that it eliminates the overall cost of schoolbooks and core classroom resources for parents. Therefore, parents must not be asked to purchase schoolbooks or core classroom resources, or to make a contribution to the school towards the cost of these items.
The scheme will seek to ensure that value for money is achieved, and that schools will be supported to implement the scheme in a way that has the best learning outcomes for students. Schools will continue to have autonomy to choose books that meet curricular requirements.
Schoolbooks will remain the property of the school and schools will ensure that, as far as possible, all schoolbooks are returned at the end of the school year or Junior Cycle for re-use the following year/cycle.
The department has also included the provision of an Administration Support Grant to post-primary schools to assist with the roll out and implementation of the scheme and to relieve the administrative burden on schools.
Guidance document
A guidance document has been developed for post-primary schools on how the scheme will operate. The guidance is published at: Schoolbooks Grant Guidance for Post Primary Schools 2024/25.
Funding
Funding will issue directly to schools by the end of March 2024.
Procurement
The Schools Procurement Unit within the Department of Education produced guidance in 2017 for schools on good procurement practices.
Schools have obligations that stem from both EU and national public procurement rules, when sourcing goods and services. Schools have access to the Public Procurement Guidelines for Goods and Services published by the Office of Government Procurement.