Call for minister to tell schools to reduce bills facing families

SCHOOLS should be given clear orders from Education Minister Mary Coughlan on restricting families’ bills for uniforms, books and other education costs, the Labour Party insisted.

The Tánaiste told the Irish Examiner this week she has no plan to intervene in the setting of policies by the country’s 4,000 second-level schools in relation to uniforms, despite the wide variation in costs between them.

While many schools allow parents to buy most items where they want, others have been criticised for insisting that pupils are dressed in crested and expensive school track suits, sportswear and jackets.