Press release
Ministers for Education launch new scheme providing free schoolbooks to over 212,000 Junior Cycle students
Published on
Last updated on
Published on
Last updated on
Minister for Education Norma Foley TD, and Minister for Special Education and Inclusion Hildegarde Naughton TD, have today launched the first year of a new scheme which will see free schoolbooks and classroom resources provided to Junior Cycle students in post-primary schools.
Over 212,000 students enrolled in approximately 670 post-primary schools will benefit as the new school year commences over the coming days.
A significantly increased level of funding, totalling €68 million, was allocated by Government in 2024 to provide for schoolbooks and enable the expansion of the free schoolbooks scheme nationwide.
Schools have also separately been provided with an Administration Support Grant to assist with the roll-out and implementation of the scheme and to relieve any additional administrative burden.
Special schools in which children and young people with special educational needs are enrolled in Junior Cycle programmes will also benefit from the scheme.
Minister Foley said:
“Following the successful implementation of the schoolbooks scheme in primary schools last year, I am delighted to see the huge amount of work that has gone on in our schools over the past five months or so into getting ready for this new scheme that will provide schoolbooks to all Junior Cycle students. I want to thank all of our school leaders and all other school staff who have worked tirelessly to make this happen.
“This scheme is a hugely positive milestone for families as it eases some of the financial burden facing them with back-to-school costs. For the first time, parents and guardians of students in Junior Cycle years in post-primary schools in the Free Education Scheme are not being asked to buy or rent any schoolbooks for the 2024/25 school year.
“I am heartened, and grateful to the school management and staff, to see that children and young people will now start first, second and third year with all the books and core resources that they need to see them through the year.
“By providing our young people in Junior Cycle years with free schoolbooks 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 and Government Chief Whip, Hildegarde Naughton TD, said:
“The delivery of this Programme for Government commitment will make a real difference in reducing the back-to-school costs for parents and guardians of students with special educational needs attending mainstream and special classes in post-primary schools.
“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.”
Guidance for schools, as well as information for parents and guardians, regarding the new scheme, has been published by the Department of Education and can be accessed here .
Ends
The Department of Education previously provided 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 were 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 continue to receive an allocation of €39 per pupil (an additional €15 per pupil compared to non-DEIS schools) for the 2024/25 school year.
Under this book rental scheme, which is set out in Circular 46/2013, and which still applies to Senior Cycle years, 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 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 have operated some form of book rental scheme.
The objective of the new scheme is to ensure every child and young person enrolled in Junior Cycle years in post-primary schools in the Free Education Scheme has the resources required to access education and ease 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 for parents or guardians to buy or rent these items
• schools have been 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
To support the administration of this scheme, the Department has allocated 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 implementation of the new scheme builds 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 are provided directly to schools to purchase schoolbooks, and classroom resources.
Schools have been 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.
A guidance document has been developed for post-primary schools on how the scheme will operate. The guidance is published here .
Funding issued directly to schools on 19 March 2024.
The Schools Procurement Unit within the Department of Education produced guidance in 2017 for schools on good procurement practices. A suite of additional supports and updated guidance was produced in 2024 and is published on the Schools Procurement Unit website.
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.