Back to School Allowance

Grab All Association

https://twitter.com/rtebusiness/status/1546381771813621760?s=21&t=TIrGDyWoYWfBRJCutcC5MQ

Would it not be better to allocate this money to schools instead who could procure uniforms, books and materials in bulk more cheaply. It would also ensure that parents (some, not all) can’t spend this money on booze, fags and drugs.

I remember the principal of our rural primary school having to go in to Stakelums Thurles in the early 1990s to buy my neighbours children school books. She spent the BTSA on scratch cards. Ironically she won £50k on Winning Streak and yet still wouldn’t buy them.

dxhound2005

GDPR would stop the principal releasing that sort of information these days.

Grab All Association

In fairness the principal didn’t say anything. Her children (Use initials here) J, N, M and C told us all in the school that day that he was going in buying them books. Her recent winnings were well known in the village at the time.

Just think bulk payments like this are open to abuse by some parents. Ultimately it’s the children that suffer in the end.

Btw I have absolutely no objection to these payments.

dxhound2005

The allowance is for clothing and footwear, not books. There is another scheme for books. I think it would be a lot of work for schools to fit out their students with clothes and footwear.

cruizer101

The problem with that method is different people spend it on different things. Someone might have an older sibling who had a lot of the books so they can be reused along with uniforms, they might spend it on new shoes and schoolbag, they shouldn't be punished for being frugal and reusing older child's school items.

That said it probably could do with reform, its another one of those schemes that if you are on social welfare you get a nice bit of assistance if you are just outside the limits you get nothing. We need far more graduated assistance schemes for stuff like this and medical cards

Ger Roe

I agree with the original post.

The new additional payment just supports a screwed up system where parents are continually ripped off by school book suppliers, Ipad providers, uniform manufacturers, and boards of management requesting ever increasing 'voluntary' contributions. The extra grant takes the heat off the situation just before the Dail summer break, so our leaders can go off on holliers with a clear conscience, but it does nothing to address the fundamental issues that have arisen year after year for decades.

Using taxpayers funds to make it easier to pay what we know are rip off back to school costs, is not a solution... it is a well timed cynical temporary distraction, from the fact that nothing has been done to actively reduce the costs.

The 'we can't throw money at constantly rising fuel prices argument, because it just supports the increases' has been trotted out constantly, but yet it is a solution for back to school costs?

dxhound2005

If anything, giving the administration to every school would likely increase costs. They would have to measure every child for clothes and footwear. Then go through a tender process to establish which suppliers to use. This would have to be an annual process to ensure fairness. I think it is better to leave it to the parents, and if some of them neglect their children, that is just part of human nature.

L1011

A ban on custom uniform clothing - crests, collars, patterned ties etc - would work out a lot better in terms of savings. Uniform from Aldi for €30 rather than from some local shop for €200+ as is becoming common.

Would cause lots of obvious backhander recipients on the supply chain (e.g. when an embroidered Regatta jacket that a business can buy in small volumes at 50 quid is being sold in huge volumes at 80, someone or multiple people along the way are creaming off the top) to cry, though.

dxhound2005

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119320355#Comment_119320355

Graduated in what way is the problem. Those just above the intermediate limits and certainly those just above the new maximum will still not be happy. After it was introduced in 1990, that very issue was raised in the Dail, and nothing has changed since. Back then and for about the next 20 years it was Health Boards who did the administration. And to be fair the scope of the scheme, and the rates payable appear to have got more generous over the years.

https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1991-03-05/12/

Is the Minister aware that the scheme turned out to be very divisive last year? In particular, people on very small incomes were excluded from the scheme. The Minister will be aware that many of those people are worse off than people on social welfare. Will his review of the scheme take that fact into account and will he broaden the scheme to include people in low paid employment?

Dr. Woods:

Any time you bring in a good scheme for those on unemployment and supplementary welfare allowance, naturally people who are not within these groups feel it is something from which they, too, should benefit. We need to consider particularly people who are near the margin, and this includes people on family income supplement. They can be included in certain circumstances, for instance, if they have no other income. In that way some of the known and defined people on lower incomes can be included. Last year was the first year of this scheme. It worked very efficiently given the introduction of a new scheme throughout the whole country, and I thank the health boards for administering it. We are assessing as well as we can the outcome of that scheme in 1990 before dealing with this year. As the Deputy may know, I have the money again to repeat the scheme this year, but the question of including much wider categories would, of course, require budgetary consideration.

Galwayguy35

Wouldn't it be a good idea just to scrap uniforms in schools altogether, I never had to wear one in the school I went to.

Mrs OBumble

With the increasing push for schools to provide meals for children (because their parents can't/don't), it would make perfect sense for schools to also be providing a clothing service: A parent who "can't " feed their kid isn't going to be able to clothe them, either.

Ray Palmer

The uniform debate never makes sense to me. People claim it stops poorer kids being noticed and stops fashion parades. We all knew who was poor and uniforms made it more obvious

TooTired123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119320712#Comment_119320712

I would support the continued use of uniforms. School children who don’t or can’t wear whatever is the fashion of the day will be ostracised by the alpha groups and even bullied. I do think that correct wearing of the uniform gives children pride in their school too. But I agree that the uniform should only be available in the local supermarket drapery department.

TooTired123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119320753#Comment_119320753

The school should also provide a service to pick the kids up from the house in the morning, bring them to school and bring them back in the evening.

No…actually… the school should provide someone to go to the house, get the kids up, give them their breakfast, get them washed and dressed, wash up the the breakfast things and bring them to school.

Then bring them home in the evening, get them out of their uniform, get their homework done, make them their tea, give it to them, tidy that up and put the kids in front of the tv.

Parents will try their best to get the kids into bed but can’t garuntee anything.