Budget 2024: Free schoolbooks for second-level pupils sought ‘to break poverty cycle’

Investing in education is the “key” to breaking the cycle of poverty, the Children’s Rights Alliance said as it called for free schoolbooks for secondary school students.

The organisation said in its pre-budget submission that the Deis programme, which supports pupils from deprived backgrounds, has been “hugely successful” but that “too many children aren’t reaching their full potential in education”.

Alliance chief executive Tanya Wardsaid half of all children living in poverty are not in Deis schools and that services aimed at early school leavers are struggling to cope.

“Children from low-income families should have the same opportunities as their peers,” she said. “They shouldn’t have to fight every step of the way to get the education so many of us take for granted.

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“The Government has started to grapple with the cost of education, but addressing inequality will require thinking beyond cost to the care and support we can provide children facing a multitude of challenges.”

In advance of Budget 2024, the alliance has called for free schoolbooks at second level, noting the average cost of basic needs for a fourth class pupil is €320 but that this rises to €972 for those in first year.

“Last year’s budget went further than any before in education, providing free schoolbooks to all primary school students. This momentum needs to continue this year, with an investment to expand the scheme to second level students (at a cost of €70 million),” the alliance said.

It also called for increased staffing for the education welfare service, which ensures every child attends school regularly or is otherwise able to maintain their right to a minimum education.

However, the alliance pointed out the service has just 120 education welfare officers working across more than 4,000 schools, which it described as an “unacceptable” number.

It called for the a further 90 such posts to be established so that every child who needs access “can get an adequate service”.

“We pride ourselves on our education system in Ireland but an under-resourced education welfare service leaves behind the very child who needs support the most. This simply isn’t good enough in a country pledging to end child poverty,” the submission adds.

Ms Ward said education can be the key to unlocking “a world of opportunity and potential”.

“However, for children and young people in poverty, they often face barrier after barrier when it comes to accessing education. Persistent inequality can trap children in a cycle of poverty that can follow them into adulthood,” she said.

“We need to be mindful that, for those children and young people who leave school with a primary education only, they have more than a one-in-four chance of living in poverty than their counterparts who go on to third level education.”

Speaking at a webinar organised by the alliance on ending child poverty, Senator Eileen Flynn said that as a member of the Traveller community, the home school liaison officer was “crucial”.

“I don’t think I would have completed education, my Leaving Cert, if it wasn’t for the home school liaison officer. That shared cup of tea is very important. That lift home when you need the lift home,” she said.