Ireland: Elimination of the cost of schoolbooks for families of Junior Cycle students
A new groundbreaking scheme was recently announced which provides free schoolbooks to Junior Cycle students in post-primary schools in the Free Education Scheme.
The objective of the new scheme is about ensuring every child and young person enrolled in Junior Cycle years in post-primary schools 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.
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 will be ensured 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. Special schools of children and young people with special educational needs will also receive the Junior Cycle rate.
This new scheme means that:
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Schoolbooks, and core classroom resources such as journals, copybooks, dictionaries and calculators will be provided
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Schools will be provided with sufficient funding to cover the costs of providing these items
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Schoolbooks are the property of the school and must be returned at the end of the school year or the Junior Cycle
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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 of Education 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. The Department is issuing guidance for post-primary schools and any post-primary schools with queries about the scheme can contact the Department directly.
For more information: gov - Schoolbooks Scheme for Junior Cycle in Post-Primary Schools (www.gov.ie)
Source: Eurydice Unit Ireland
