Cork parents under strain: 'Books are free but now many schools expect students to have devices'

Parents are under increasing financial strain ahead of children returning to school, as pressure to buy tablets and laptops replaces schoolbooks which have been made free, a Cork SVP co-ordinator has told The Echo.

His comments came as a Barnardos survey showed 50% of secondary school parents are being asked to buy devices.

St Vincent de Paul (SVP) Cork regional co-ordinator Cormac O’Sullivan said that back-to-school season is very busy for them.

“We’ve seen an increase in calls in the last week, and it’s only going to get busier now as we get through August. SVP has been advocating for the last 15 years for free schoolbooks, so it’s great that this year both secondary and primary schools are both receiving free books.

“However, we’re seeing an increase in people looking for help to buy technology, laptops and tablets. The books are free but now many schools are expecting students to have devices, which is quite a big expense for parents.

“It’s not mandatory to have them, but there’s an expectance there, and kids don’t want to be the only one in a class without one.”

Mr O’Sullivan added: “We’ve also seen an increase in people looking for help to buy uniforms. The back-to-school allowance is there, but it’s not enough to cover everything.

“Those are the two main expenses, but SVP is conscious that the school year doesn’t stop in September. There are costs associated throughout the year, and we’ll get a lot of calls for assistance on those too.”

These include voluntary contributions and school trips, he said, explaining: “For the TY students, there’s big pressure on parents to be able to fund overseas trips. We’re asking schools to put in place a suitable alternative for people who just can’t afford that.

“In terms of voluntary contributions, we would ask schools to be conscious. It might just be a fiver here and there, but if there are families with multiple children it all adds up.”

The profile of people coming to them for help has changed, he added.

“What we’re seeing is people coming to us for help who didn’t think they would be in this situation. People come because they have to make choices like the electricity bill or education. All these costs they would have been able to cover before. A lot of these new people coming to us for assistance wouldn’t have expected they’d ever have to do so.”

It comes as Barnardos has released the results of its Back to School survey 2025, which showed that 50% of primary and 60% secondary school of parents stated they are worried about meeting costs this year. Some 27% of secondary and 14% primary school parents across Ireland said they have to use savings in order to meet back to school costs, while 15% of secondary and 8% of primary school parents said they had to take a loan out or borrow from family and friends.

About 50% of secondary school parents said their child’s school required them to pay for digital devices with the average cost being €430.

One parent said: 

“My son is going into fifth year. This was the first time we were entitled to free schoolbooks, but then we were called to a meeting in the school where they advised that we would have to buy a Chromebook for our child which cost €500.”

Some 78% of primary and 84% of secondary school parents said that their schools requested a voluntary contribution. The average amount asked for by schools was €87 for primary school parents and €133 for secondary school parents. Elsewhere, 73% of primary and 78% of secondary school parents said the payment “did not feel voluntary”.

Survey respondents said that they were going into debt just to keep up.

One parent said: “I will not pay gas and electric bill in August, I will borrow a loan and use installments to get as much as I can for back to school items.

“I will go into debt until March the following year until it’s all paid back, then it repeats again in August. My worries are if I can keep this up year after year.”