Back-to-school costs - Ireland’s rich image is sheer hypocrisy

THE deep-seated inequities of Celtic Tiger Ireland are once again evident as the soaring cost of school uniforms, books and other essentials is in danger of putting so called “free education” out of the reach of thousands of needy families.

Last year, a record 79,000 families sought financial help from Government to send their children back to school. And with prices continuing to soar in rip-off Ireland, many risk being priced out of the education system altogether.

Frankly, it is depressing that tens of thousand of kids, those who should benefit most from schooling, are being denied equality of opportunity because of their parents’ economic status, or rather the lack of it.