We all know that back-to-school time is extremely stressful and expensive, and unsurprisingly most of us will leave it until the last minute to get the essentials.
In fact, MummyPages’ fifth annual back-to-school survey has found that despite the fact school uniforms have been available since June, 68% of MummyPages mums don’t even think about getting organised for the new school year until the start of August.
However, considering a new uniform, sports gear and footwear can set mums back an incredible €313 for secondary school and €178 for kids in primary school, it is not that surprising most of us wait until the last minute.
But as we all know it's not just the uniform that needs to be bought; according to MummyPages' annual survey, 56 percent of parents claim to have experienced financial difficulty putting their child through school in the last year, compared to 61 percent last year.
When you factor in the cost of school books, the voluntary contribution, technology support, school trips and fundraising, families can see themselves forking out €764 for primary schools and €1,485 for secondary schools a year.
Unsurprisingly, with 89 percent of mums finding August the most financially stressful month for school related expenses, many think the voluntary contribution should be outlawed / banned and nearly all those surveyed would favour a phased payment system to incorporate savings for school book costs and other school fees.
And despite most parents opting for a mix of crested and generic uniforms, Minister for Education Richard Bruton ruled out the introduction of legislation compelling schools to allow their students to wear generic uniform.
Commenting on the results of the survey, Laura Erskine, Mum-in-Residence for MummyPages.ie said: “Ireland's much heralded ‘free’ education is anything but according to our MummyPages mums who face school-related costs of up to €1,500 per child throughout the school year."
"Worryingly, 89 percent of mums are suffering from high levels of stress because of the high level of expense at back-to-school time.
"To ease the burden on parents MummyPages advises school boards of management to consider a phased payment system throughout the year to incorporate the voluntary contribution, schools books and book rental scheme fees.”
