Minister for Education and Skills, Mr Ruairi Quinn TD, confirmed this week that he has been in talks with the ’main educational publishers’ in Ireland and they have committed to giving ’substantial discounts’ to schools that run book rental schemes.
“My main objective in proposing these measures is to ensure that costs to students and their families are kept to a minimum and I believe that the steps achieved to date will contribute substantially to achieving this objective,” said Mr Quinn, in a department statement.
Unfortunately, the agreement has come too late for many families who have had to purchase books for this year. However, the Minister said that he would continue to ‘prioritise this issue over the coming months.’
During his second meeting with publishers since taking up office, the Minister received commitment from representatives of the publishers that schools which purchase textbooks in bulk should be given a significant discount.
‘The majority of publishers confirmed to the Minister yesterday that schools who purchase in bulk for book rental schemes will benefit from discounts in the range 12 per cent to 17.5 per cent,’ read a statement from Mr Quinn.
Aspects of a voluntary Code of Practice, to which eight publishers have now signed up, were also clarified at the meeting.
When the new agreement is implemented, it will result in non revision to existing text books for four years unless they are required due to curriculum or examinations changes. Publishers also confirmed that revisions to textbooks will be available online.
Department of education officials have also been asked to contact all primary and second level schools to determine which schools operate book rental schemes.
According to the Minister he is receiving assistance from the National Parents Councils which have provided the Department with information with respect to best practice of book rental schemes in operation in a bid to encourage wide use of this practise.
Fellow party member, Dublin South Central member of the Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Social Protection and Education, Mr Michael Coghlan TD has praised Mr Quinn and said “the start of a new school year is an expensive time for families, and school books make up a large portion of this cost. By encouraging schools to operate book rental schemes, it is hoped that this cost can be substantially reduced.
“Minister Quinn has made it clear from the outset that it is his intention to cut the cost of school for families, and this is a major step in the right direction. I hope that he will continue to push this agenda and work with schools and boards of management to further reduce this burden, for example through the introduction of generic school uniforms.”
‘The majority of publishers confirmed to the Minister yesterday that schools who purchase in bulk for book rental schemes will benefit from discounts in the range 12 per cent to 17.5 per cent,’ read a statement from Mr Quinn.
Aspects of a voluntary Code of Practice, to which eight publishers have now signed up, were also clarified at the meeting.
When the new agreement is implemented, it will result in non revision to existing text books for four years unless they are required due to curriculum or examinations changes. Publishers also confirmed that revisions to textbooks will be available online.
Department of education officials have also been asked to contact all primary and second level schools to determine which schools operate book rental schemes.
According to the Minister he is receiving assistance from the National Parents Councils which have provided the Department with information with respect to best practice of book rental schemes in operation in a bid to encourage wide use of this practise.
Fellow party member, Dublin South Central member of the Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Social Protection and Education, Mr Michael Coghlan TD has praised Mr Quinn and said “the start of a new school year is an expensive time for families, and school books make up a large portion of this cost. By encouraging schools to operate book rental schemes, it is hoped that this cost can be substantially reduced.
“Minister Quinn has made it clear from the outset that it is his intention to cut the cost of school for families, and this is a major step in the right direction. I hope that he will continue to push this agenda and work with schools and boards of management to further reduce this burden, for example through the introduction of generic school uniforms.”
