Parents fork out an average €1,023 to send each child to school

THE average cost of sending a child to school last year rose 5% to €1,023.

The National Parents Council (Primary) said some parents were paying more than twice that when participation in sports and school tours were taken into account. After-school childcare added on an average of €2,250.

Council chief executive Fionnuala Kilfeather said: “This is a worrying time of the year for many families as they set out on the extraordinarily expensive business of getting their children ready for ‘free’ primary education.”