Schools are saddled with debt and rely on parents to pay for essentials such as heating, lighting, insurance and equipment.

Research shows that 70% of schools still need ‘voluntary contributions’ to remain viable, with an average of €130 shelled out by parents for a child in secondary school.

Our team will investigate school debt around the country and examine the impact on parents faced with higher and higher fees to help keep the lights on.

WHAT YOUR FUNDING SUPPORTS

We will speak to school principals and parents’ groups across Ireland to find out the stress that these financial issues are putting on educators and families up and down the country.

Grants to cover general costs for schools were badly cut during austerity and have failed to come back to previous levels. We will use Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to see if the State is doing anything to address the funding shortfall.

Want to see this investigation happen? Click the 'Fund This Proposal' button.

You can contact us at [email protected] and find out how we work here. Our investigations are sourced from and crowdfunded by the public.