Click here for the full Back to School report and for the infographic here.
MummyPages.ie, Ireland’s leading online parenting community, has launched the country’s most comprehensive all-island research report.
The research offers key insights into the issues facing parents of primary school children as September begins to loom.
The cost of books and uniforms and the fear of bullying are two of Irish mums' top concerns, while 90% are very happy with the performance of their little one's school teacher.
It was also revealed that over half of mums are worried that an over-reliance on technology in schools will result in their children's becoming incapable of learning through traditional methods.
Here are some of the top findings to come out of our jam-packed super survey:
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Cost of Education
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Choice and Performance of School
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Schooldays Worries
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Technology and Learning
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63% of mums find primary school expensive with 51% experiencing financial difficulty last year.
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88% of mums are happy with the primary school choices in or near their family home.
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Over half of all mums (56%) worry that their child may become a victim of bullying during their primary school years.
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73% of mums rate their child’s primary school’s use of technology as very good to excellent.
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The average back-to-school text book and stationery spend is €188 for children in third to sixth class.
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Academic performance is not as important as proximity to the family home for 59% of mums choosing a primary school.
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54% of mums are concerned that their child’s schoolbag is too heavy for them.
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51% worry that the introduction of tablet based learning will hinder their ability to learn using traditional methods.
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52% of mums spend an average of €196 on school uniforms for the school year
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66% of mums believe that a mixed primary school is better for their children’s social development and confidence.
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44% of mums are already worrying about how their child will settle into the school routine after the summer holidays.
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63% are anxious that an over reliance on technology in learning may require them to contribute financially to these costs at home or in school.
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88% of parents think their uniform is unnecessarily expensive with only 33% of mums able to buy a generic school uniform.
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90% of mums rate their child’s primary school teacher as very good or excellent.
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80% of mums dread the expense of the school year birthday marathon – with 12 the average number of party invites and €15 the average gift spend.
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Just 7% of mums reported that their child’s school had introduced tablet or e-reader technology to the classroom.
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Financial strain was one of the biggest back-to-school issues on parents' minds. Our Mum-in-Residence Laura Haugh says more needs to be done to help stressed out mums and dads.
“Unfortunately Government efforts to encourage schools to adopt a plain uniform policy earlier this year have not been successful, with only half of parents reportedly receiving a survey to influence the board of management in their school.
“As a result the issue of overpriced branded uniforms continues for the coming school year and value uniforms in Aldi, Tesco and Dunnes can only be availed of by a third of the MummyPages mums we surveyed. These cost effective uniforms combined with a simple iron-on crest as reported by one school in Cork would go a long way to easing the financial burden on parents at this key back-to-school time.”
Click here for the full Back to School report and for the infographic here.
