This article is from page 1 of the 2012-08-28 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 1 JPG
THE cost of sending children to school has become too much for many Clare families, with large numbers turning to charities such as the St Vincent de Paul for help and record numbers applying for Government supports such as the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance.
With the cost of kitting out a child for primary school now as high as € 700 for some families, anecdotal evidence indicated that money lenders have began door-stepping some houses, offering money to cover school expenses.
With primary schools also suffering budget cuts from central government, many parents have found themselves unable to pay voluntary contribution towards the operation of their children’s primary school.
Indeed, according to Clare teachers and former head of the Teachers Union of Ireland (TUI), Bernie Ruane, in many schools only one in every five families are in a position to make a voluntary contribution.
Large delays have also been seen in the processing of the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance. According to Clare Citizens Information Services – parents from every walk of life are getting in contact with questions about the grant.
“Our main queries at the moment are concerning the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Grant and we are getting questions from all varieties of parents about this – but particularly from parents who have had a change of circumstance over the past year. We are getting a lot questions for Clare parents who have lost a job of who have changed from over payment to another over the last 12 months,” continued the spokesperson. Any parent who is in receipt of a social welfare payment is entitled to apply for the Back to School Clothing and Footwear grant.