Kildare Councillor And Primary School Teacher Says More Funding Is Needed for Primary Schools

Tuesday, 1 July 2025 12:24

By Tara Flanagan

Some schools need to ask parents to pay higher voluntary contributions

Primary schools say more funding is needed to keep pace with rising costs.

They'll get 224 euro per pupil from September - an increase of 24 euro since last year.

However, despite the Department of Education giving out more money, many schools say they're left with no option but to ask parents to pay higher voluntary contributions, to make up the shortfall.

Primary School Teacher from Meath and Kildare North Social Democrats Councillor Peter Melrose says many schools are struggling to cover costs:

"What really is the issue in the schools at the moment? It's well known at this stage that the funding we're getting from government is simply not enough. There's an increase to €224 per pupil in primary schools. I think we need at the very, very least €300 to stand still as costs have increased by about 70% since COVID"

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