Anger as 'hard-pressed' Mayo parents hit with bills for €1k school laptops

'HARD-pressed' parents in Mayo are being hit with another major bill as the cost-of-living crisis deepens.

Deputy Paul Lawless said families struggling to make ends meet will soon be landed with a €1,000 bill to cover the cost of a laptop for a child attending secondary school from late August.

The Knock-based representative elaborated: "Incredibly, the government introduced free books last year but has this year introduced what is effectively mandatory ICT at a cost that is significantly higher than the books ever were.

"Many families have contacted me and outlined bills of €1,000 for a laptop. The same families came into my office and showed me second-hand laptops that they already owned but that the school principals and authorities said could not be used, meaning the families had to purchase brand new laptops from one specific supplier.

"This is happening at a time when groceries are up by 40% and diesel is up by 60% compared to 2021, leaving many families hard-pressed to meet all their costs.

"The government created this problem and has passed the buck to the principals. The principals are now trying to deliver a curriculum that was never designed in schools because the department and officials did a solo run to radically change the curriculum.

"At both junior cycle and senior cycle, the government introduced a massive amount of continuous assessment without any provision for how that continuous assessment would be delivered, and now principals are scratching their heads, wondering how they deliver all of this continuous assessment in an age where many children do not have personal laptops. They sent out letters to families with €1,000 or €1,500 bills for laptops."

Deputy Lawless said he wrote to the Minister for Education, Hildegarde Naughton, about the matter and she said that no child should be required to purchase a laptop.

"Yet the bills and letters are still landing because the principals do not know what else to do. It is very clear to me that the government has essentially created a problem as a result of lack of consultation, and now the people paying the costs are the hard-pressed families who are struggling with the cost of living.

"It is a very similar situation to the school uniform, where we had single suppliers for crested uniforms. These suppliers were often charging double what other suppliers were. We have created the very same problem and the government has learned nothing.

"It needs to intervene here. I am dealing with families who are afraid to speak up and raise the fact that they do not have the money to afford this, and that their children may be adversely affected by not being on the school team and so on. It is perhaps irrational but this is happening on the ground.”

He added: "The other question that the government has not addressed is whether it is good for children to be on laptops from 9 o'clock to 4 o'clock during the school day and then to go home and be consumed with social media.

"The government has created this with a solo run with the change of curriculum, and now it is up to the government to address it."