Year 2 of Free Schoolbook Scheme for Primary

Posted by SchoolDays Newshound, on 08/05/2024. Year 2 of Free Schoolbook Scheme for Primary

Tags: Parenting Teachers

Minister for Education Norma Foley TD, Minister of State for Special Education and Inclusion Hildegarde Naughton TD and Minister of State at the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform with special responsibility for Public Procurement and eGovernment, Ossian Smyth TD have today (Wednesday 8 May 2024) announced details of year 2 of the Primary Schoolbooks Scheme which provides free schoolbooks to pupils in primary schools and special schools.

More than 563,000 pupils in approximately 3,230 recognised primary schools, including over 130 special schools, will continue to benefit from the scheme.

This initiative will continue to provide not only schoolbooks, but also workbooks and copybooks to all children and young people in primary and special schools, easing the financial burdens facing families during back-to-school time.

The Department of Education will also continue to provide schools with an Administration Support Grant to assist with scheme implementation during year 2 and to relieve the administrative burden on schools.

The investment of over €47 million will continue to ensure that parents and guardians will not be asked to buy or rent any schoolbooks, workbooks or copybooks. Following a review of year 1 of the scheme the Department is issuing revised guidance for schools and any school with queries about the scheme can contact the Department directly.

This scheme means that:

Schoolbooks, workbooks and copybooks will be provided directly to all pupils by schools

There is no need parents or guardians to buy or rent these items

Schools will be provided with sufficient funding to cover the costs of providing these items

Schoolbooks are the property of the school and must be returned at the end of the school year.

Schools will be provided with additional administration support.

Under the scheme, €80 per pupil will be paid for the 2024/25 school year in line with recognised pupil enrolment on 30 September 2023. As the scheme is now implemented in every recognised primary and special school it is expected that schools have used the funding provided in the 2023/24 school year to purchase stocks of schoolbooks and other classroom resources. Many of these items are now available to schools for reuse in the 2024/25 school year and in future school years. The funding allocated to the scheme in the 2024/25 school year takes account of this.

To support the administration of this scheme the Administration support grant provided by the Department to primary schools will remain in place for the 2024/25 school year, based on the size of the school, to assist with any additional work required in order to implement the scheme. Schools may use this grant to employ an individual to carry out administrative work on the scheme.

The Department has published guidance for schools and information for parents on how the new scheme will operate at www.gov.ie/schoolbookschemes

NOTES

Guidance Document
A revised guidance document has been developed for primary schools on how the scheme will continue to operate. The Department will continue to provide an Administration Support Grant to primary schools to assist with the roll-out and implementation of the scheme and to relieve the administrative burden on schools. The guidance is published at
www.gov.ie/schoolbookschemes

Funding
Funding will issue directly to schools over the coming days.

Procurement
The Schools Procurement Unit (SPU) is the central support resource for providing guidance to all recognised primary schools, including special schools, and post-primary schools (except ETB schools) on any procurement-related issue. The SPU delivers free advice and practical support to schools to help them achieve improvements in their procurement processes, practices and outcomes. ETB schools are supported in their procurement activity by their local ETB.

The Schools Procurement Unit has a dedicated Schoolbooks Scheme webpage
https://www.spu.ie/schoolbooks-scheme/

Schools already have obligations to the national procurement guidelines and the law which governs public procurement in Ireland when sourcing goods and services.

The Public Procurement Guidelines for Goods and Services, published by the Office of Government Procurement, promote best practice and consistency of application of the public procurement rules in relation to the purchase of goods and services.

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