Press release
Minister Foley announces year 2 of free schoolbooks in primary and special schools
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Published on
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Minister for Education Norma Foley, Minister of State for Special Education and Inclusion Hildegarde Naughton and Minister of State at the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform with special responsibility for Public Procurement and eGovernment, Ossian Smyth have today (Wednesday 8 May 2024) announced details of year 2 of the Primary Schoolbooks Scheme which provides free schoolbooks to pupils in primary schools and special schools.
More than 563,000 pupils in approximately 3,230 recognised primary schools, including over 130 special schools, will continue to benefit from the scheme.
This initiative will continue to provide not only schoolbooks, but also workbooks and copybooks to all children and young people in primary and special schools, easing the financial burdens facing families during back-to-school time.
The Department of Education will also continue to provide schools with an Administration Support Grant to assist with scheme implementation during year 2 and to relieve the administrative burden on schools.
The investment of over €47 million will continue to ensure that parents and guardians will not be asked to buy or rent any schoolbooks, workbooks or copybooks. Following a review of year 1 of the scheme the department is issuing revised guidance for schools and any school with queries about the scheme can contact the department directly.
Minister Foley said:
“I am delighted to announce details of the funding package of over €47 million secured in 2024 to further embed this worthwhile scheme into our primary school system.
“Earlier this year I announced details of a free Junior Cycle Schoolbooks Scheme and this brings the total investment in the free school books schemes in 2024 to over €115 million. This significantly increases the funding for schoolbooks previously provided to all recognised primary schools and post-primary schools in the Free Education Scheme in the country.
“The funding provided for primary schoolbooks in 2024 will continue to ease some of the financial burden facing families with the back-to-school costs.
“The scheme will provide, at a minimum, free schoolbooks, workbooks and copybooks for all pupils enrolled in primary and special schools in the 2024/25 school year.
“I am committed to ensuring that schools will have sufficient support to implement this scheme. Following a review of year 1 of the scheme I am pleased to announce that the Administration support grant provided to schools will remain in place for the 2024/2025 year.
“My department has also enhanced the support for schools by increasing the days allocated to larger schools, to take account of additional work needed."
Minister of State for Special Education and Inclusion Hildegarde Naughton said:
“I am delighted to see the continuation of this Programme for Government commitment, with free schoolbooks for all pupils in primary and special schools. This initiative will help reduce the impact of the rising cost of living and will provide significant support to parents of children with special educational needs attending mainstream primary classes, special classes in primary schools or special schools.
“I also welcome the decision of the Minister earlier this year to pay the Junior Cycle per capita rate to students enrolled in Junior Cycle programmes in special schools.
“I am particularly pleased to see the flexibility of the scheme maintained for the 2024/25 school year to ensure it supports the teaching and learning of children with special educational needs. This permits schools to use funding to purchase related classroom resources to meet the learning needs of the pupils in their class once the cost of providing appropriate schoolbooks, workbooks and copybooks is met.
“This flexibility is especially important for pupils with special educational needs attending mainstream classes in primary schools and over 19,000 children and young people attending special classes in primary schools and special schools.”
This scheme means that:
Under the scheme, €80 per pupil will be paid for the 2024/25 school year in line with recognised pupil enrolment on 30 September 2023. As the scheme is now implemented in every recognised primary and special school it is expected that schools have used the funding provided in the 2023/24 school year to purchase stocks of schoolbooks and other classroom resources. Many of these items are now available to schools for reuse in the 2024/25 school year and in future school years. The funding allocated to the scheme in the 2024/25 school year takes account of this.
To support the administration of this scheme the Administration support grant provided by the department to primary schools will remain in place 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.
The department has published guidance for schools and information for parents on how the new scheme will operate at: www.gov.ie/schoolbookschemes.
As part of Budget 2023, the department announced over €50 million to provide free schoolbooks to primary school pupils within the free education scheme from September 2023. The Primary Schoolbooks Scheme has benefitted more than 563,000 pupils in approximately 3,230 recognised primary schools, including over 130 special schools.
The scheme has been established on the basis that funds will be provided directly to schools to purchase schoolbooks, workbooks, copybooks and where possible some related classroom resources.
Schools are permitted discretion in how the free schoolbook grant funding is used on the basis that it eliminates the overall cost of schoolbooks, workbooks, copybooks and where possible, some related classroom resources for parents. Parents must not be asked to purchase schoolbooks, workbooks or copybooks 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 pupils. Schools will continue to have autonomy to choose books that meet curricular requirements.
The books will remain the property of the schools and schools will ensure that, as far as possible, all textbooks are returned at the end of the school year for re-use the following year.
A revised guidance document has been developed for primary schools on how the scheme will continue to operate. The department will continue to provide an Administration Support Grant to primary schools to assist with the roll-out and implementation of the scheme and to relieve the administrative burden on schools. The guidance is published at www.gov.ie/schoolbookschemes.
Funding will issue directly to schools over the coming days.
The Schools Procurement Unit (SPU) is the central support resource for providing guidance to all recognised primary schools, including special schools, and post-primary schools (except ETB schools) on any procurement-related issue. The SPU delivers free advice and practical support to schools to help them achieve improvements in their procurement processes, practices and outcomes. ETB schools are supported in their procurement activity by their local ETB.
The Schools Procurement Unit has a dedicated Schoolbooks Scheme webpage.
Schools already have obligations to the national procurement guidelines and the law which governs public procurement in Ireland when sourcing goods and services.
The Public Procurement Guidelines for Goods and Services, published by the Office of Government Procurement, promote best practice and consistency of application of the public procurement rules in relation to the purchase of goods and services.