INTO get tough on equipment donations

THE days of collecting tokens and sweet wrappers for school equipment could soon become a thing of the past under new rules from primary school teachers.

The Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO) has issued its 25,000 members with a policy on commercial products in primary schools, in the absence of Department of Education guidelines. The union’s annual congress has passed motions calling for guidance on the matter in recent years, but no such guidelines have been issued until now.

The INTO document is based on the principle that pupils should not be exploited for commercial ends at school. However, the union also acknowledged that truly philanthropic contributions on the part of the business community should be encouraged, such as local business sponsoring school jerseys.