Majority of parents 'will pay for grinds'
Thursday August 21 2008
MORE than three in four parents are prepared to pay for grinds for their children at primary level, according to a new survey.
And half of Irish people are happy to pay to have their children privately educated to secure better exam results.
But despite a willingness to spend in certain areas, the survey also reveals growing concern among parents about meeting the cost of getting their children through college.
The survey of a sample of 1,000 parents across age, social class and regions also revealed that one-quarter of parents don't believe the State education system gives value for money.
The research showed that men, those aged 35-44 and people living in the east of the country or Ulster are most likely to pay for primary school grinds if they have concerns about their child's academic progress.
The national regional breakdown shows that 81pc of those in Ulster, 78pc of people in Dublin and 77pc in the rest of Leinster would consider paying for grinds, more usually associated with second-level students, compared with 72pc for Munster and Connacht.
The research, carried out by Amarach Research for the finance company Irish Life, also indicates that parents are becoming more convinced about the value of private education, with 32pc "strongly agreeing" they would be happy to pay fees, up from 15pc last year.
Overall, 52pc of parents said they would be happy to send their children to private school, closely reflecting the narrow division over the merits of the State education system overall.
While 48pc agreed with the proposition that, while the State system was good, they would still have to pay for private education at some stage to ensure children reached their potential, 46pc disagreed.
On the question of the value for money offered by the free education system, overall, 25pc thought the value was poor, but the figure rose to 28pc in Munster. Support for the State system was strongest in Connacht and Ulster.
Debt
Even without fees, 61pc of parents believe that they will have to go into debt, or are at a loss to know how they will cope with the funding of their child's college education.
The survey showed signs of a new caution about taking on debt to get their children through college, with the proportion saying that in the absence of dedicated savings they would be prepared to take out a loan, down to 45pc from 57pc last year.
About one in six parents (16pc) said they were at a loss to know how they would manage to meet the expense of college for their child, up from 7pc who expressed the same sentiment last year.
Reducing household spending was the least attractive option for parents when juggling their budget to meet educational needs, receiving support from only 4pc of respondents.
- Katherine Donnelly
