€250 for a secondary school pupil per year actually seems cheap to me, given that students will be studying a median of 7 examinable subjects and a couple of others that are not tested (like civics/religion). On the other hand, I wasn't aware of the rise of workbooks, that's something I associate with education for younger children (say up to age 8 or 9). However, I'ma bit out of touch, since I finished school in 1987.
I would stand by my point about textbooks being more affordable in general, though. Compare introductory level university books on amazon.co.uk vs. amazon.com - I bought a lot fewer new programming books after I moved to the US because the ones were so expensive. If you look on the UK site you'll see books priced similarly to the US, but you'll also see 'international editions' of the same book which cost only about 25% as much, and it is this pricing you'll find in a typical bookstore. The only quality difference I've noticed is that paperbacks are more common over there, whereas American buyers seem to prefer hardbacks.
BTW, why do so many Irish schools require a school crest on their uniform? How do they justify that extra cost?
Heraldry is still culturally important even though we don't formalize it any more since we became independent from the UK. The patches cost only a few euros and and parents would typically buy them already attached to the sweaters/jackets, which are typically on sale as part of a package deal for the whole uniform (eg 3 pants and shirts, 2 sweaters, 1 tie, 1 jacket).
You'd probably save more money by abolishing the requirement for neckties, but when I was at school wearing a tie was still considered a requirement for being 'dressed'. The first year I was at the secondary school the uniform involved a round-neck sweater and open-collar shirt in the appropriate colors, but they switched to the more traditional v-neck sweater, shirt and tie to satisfy parents who thought the uniform wasn't dressy enough compared to those of the other schools'.
I realize this seems like a bizarre expense but then I wonder why so many US schools have illuminated signage and heavily designed sports logos, semi-pro sports facilities and so on. different priorities I suppose.
"textbooks being more affordable in general" -- but that's for university. I thought the conversation was about school systems where the schools might loan books to children, that is, primary and secondary school.
In the US, the same cost is 0, so is €250 is a lot less affordable than that, yes? (This $0 isn't quite true; in high school English class we would have to buy some of the books we were reading. These were relatively cheap paperbacks.)
Based on the 1990s report, it seems your experience of the Irish school system, based in the 1980s, is not really applicable. The increase in teacher choice of the teaching material has changed the market quite a bit because in your time the resale market was larger.
"The patches cost only a few euros" -- certainly, though the addition of a crest also serves to limit the clothing market. My question was how the school justified the extra cost. I assumed it was to establish a sense of school esprit de corp, but you suggest it's more a "that's the way it's always been" issue.
The "semi-pro sports facilities" for US high schools are usually voted on by the local community, since it calls for a tax raise for the funding. Is the crest requirement voted on by the parents? I thought it was determined by the school staff.
The illuminated signage I know of for schools seem primarily to provide messages to parents who drive and drop off the children at school. I don't think Ireland is a much a car-oriented country as the US.
"Heavily designed sports logos"? Are you talking again about college sports logos? I thought most high school logos were designed locally, and often either by the parents or the students. Many of them are outright copies of college and professional sports teams, which has gotten a few of them in licensing trouble.
I would stand by my point about textbooks being more affordable in general, though. Compare introductory level university books on amazon.co.uk vs. amazon.com - I bought a lot fewer new programming books after I moved to the US because the ones were so expensive. If you look on the UK site you'll see books priced similarly to the US, but you'll also see 'international editions' of the same book which cost only about 25% as much, and it is this pricing you'll find in a typical bookstore. The only quality difference I've noticed is that paperbacks are more common over there, whereas American buyers seem to prefer hardbacks.
BTW, why do so many Irish schools require a school crest on their uniform? How do they justify that extra cost?
Heraldry is still culturally important even though we don't formalize it any more since we became independent from the UK. The patches cost only a few euros and and parents would typically buy them already attached to the sweaters/jackets, which are typically on sale as part of a package deal for the whole uniform (eg 3 pants and shirts, 2 sweaters, 1 tie, 1 jacket).
You'd probably save more money by abolishing the requirement for neckties, but when I was at school wearing a tie was still considered a requirement for being 'dressed'. The first year I was at the secondary school the uniform involved a round-neck sweater and open-collar shirt in the appropriate colors, but they switched to the more traditional v-neck sweater, shirt and tie to satisfy parents who thought the uniform wasn't dressy enough compared to those of the other schools'.
I realize this seems like a bizarre expense but then I wonder why so many US schools have illuminated signage and heavily designed sports logos, semi-pro sports facilities and so on. different priorities I suppose.