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	Parents are taking on extra debt to fund their children&#39;s return to school.</h2>
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		They are fearful that their youngsters will miss out unless they have all the books and other items recommended by the school.</p>
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		It now costs &euro;800 to kit out a child for their first year in secondary school, a new survey from children&#39;s charity Barnardos shows.</p>
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		This is roughly the same cost as last year, but parents are under huge pressure to fund back-to-school costs because their incomes have collapsed.</p>
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		And the survey found that parents are angry that they are forced to go to expensive, specialised shops to buy uniforms instead of being able to buy them in better-value chain stores.</p>
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		<span class="CTXempty" style="margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px; font-size: 1em; text-decoration: inherit !important; float: none !important;">Crested jumpers are &euro;45, more than three times the cost of a plain jumper in a department&nbsp;<span id="link1" name="link1" style="margin: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 1px !important; padding-left: 0px; font-size: 1em; height: auto; cursor: pointer; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 153, 0); text-decoration: underline !important; color: rgb(0, 153, 0) !important;">store</span>, the survey found.</span></p>
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		Getting a child equipped to go into junior infants is setting the average parent back &euro;350. For a child going into fourth class in primary school, the cost is &euro;400.</p>
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		School books and uniforms continue to pose the highest cost to parents, although voluntary contributions and school transport costs also weigh heavily on parents&#39; budgets.</p>
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		Barnardos&#39; boss Fergus Finlay said that prices had stabilised since last year, but at the same time parents&#39; incomes had reduced.</p>
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		But the State&#39;s Back-To-School Clothing and Footwear Allowance was virtually halved in the last Budget, putting huge pressure on unemployed parents.</p>
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		Mr Finlay said: &quot;There continues to be an expectation that parents can afford these costs, but the survey paints a different picture.</p>
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		&quot;It is a hugely stressful time for parents as many are forced into debt, forgo bills and take out loans in order to meet these costs. They are afraid their child&#39;s education will suffer if they don&#39;t have everything they need.&quot;</p>
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		Huge frustration among parents was uncovered in the survey over the inability to pass on books because of new editions being printed.</p>
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		Parents are also annoyed about different books being chosen by teachers, and the use of expensive workbooks that can&#39;t be recycled.</p>
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		Barnardos said more than half of parents have access to a book rental scheme at primary level. Four out of 10 parents have a rental scheme in their children&#39;s secondary school.</p>
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			But the schemes need to be extended to all schools, Mr Finlay said.</p>
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			Close to seven out of 10 parents with children in both primary and secondary level have been asked for a voluntary contribution. Many schools chase parents for the payment, Barnardos said.</p>
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			Schools were called on to:</p>
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			* Introduce more book rental schemes.</p>
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			* Reduce the uniform items with the school crest on them or switch to a plain uniform.</p>
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			* Eliminate the 23pc VAT applicable on e-textbooks so that it is on par with printed textbooks which are exempt from VAT.</p>
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			Unless this happens Barnardos said the switch to digital learning was outside the reach of most parents.</p>
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			<a href="http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/parents-taking-on-debt-to-meet-800-school-costs-29463985.html">http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/parents-taking-on-debt-to-meet-800-school-costs-29463985.html</a></p>
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