IPads and e-readers for school costing parents up to €800
Parents are spending more on technology than they are on uniforms for their children going back to school.
Schools across the country are expecting parents to spend almost €800 on iPads and e-readers.
Laura Haugh, of MummyPages.ie, explained that it’s not just the initial price of the devices that is the problem, but all of the extra add ons too.
“There’s a huge amount of expenditure there for those that have to buy the technology.
“The device itself could cost between €400 and €500 and then they have to buy insurance and then the books that they actually have to download on to the device,” Haugh said.
Homework
“Our mums have told us that 15pc of schools have gone fully iPad only, but others are a mix of e-readers and the supportive technology at home, such as colour printers or ink for homework assignments, so costs boil down to a mix of a lot of things,” she added.
A full uniform, including shoes, a school bag and sports gear and equipment came out at just under €510 while school dinners can cost €276 a year.
The study titled ‘Back to School’ asked 1,766 mums of primary and secondary schoolchildren where the real cost of sending a child to school lay.
Despite the cost, 96pc of MummyPages mums think schools need to embrace digital technology to teach their kids how to use it safely.
According to the report, a year in primary school can cost up to €6,211 per child once after-school care, uniforms, school transport and registration is accounted for.
Haugh described Ireland’s free education as “a joke” given the financial burden school-related costs impose on parents.