Sunday Times 31st January 2010

Independent News & Media has suspended a commercial promotion for primary schools after objections from the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO).

Building for the Future, a promotion that originally required pupils to collect tokens to enter a competition, will now be altered so that schools do not have to buy newspapers to take part, the media group said.

Read the story in the Sunday Times website.

The launch of “Building for the Future”, which demanded a quota of 20 tokens per pupil from schools wishing to enter, was met with condemnation from across the teaching community. 

The Campaign for Commercial Free Education urged schools to boycott the commercially-driven promotion and pointed out that a single stream school (8 classes X 27 children X 20 tokens X €1.80 per copy) must give Independent Newspapers €7,776 in sales plus thousands more in free advertising and promotion within the school.

The Irish National Teachers Organisation described the scheme as “a new low in trying to target school children for commercial gain” and promised a public protest if the companies involved did not scrap the promotion.

Fifty Six primary principals signed a statement rejecting “Building for the Future” and criticising the sponsors for “seeking to exploit schools, boost sales and make life uncomfortable for children whose parents do not buy the sponsors newspapers.”

In the face of such blanket criticism, Independent Newspapers have ceased to promote or publish tokens for the scheme. The scheme has been quietly consigned to the marketing dustbin while teachers celebrate an important victory.

Joseph Fogarty, chairman of the Campaign for Commercial Free Education, said “This is great news for schools whose teaching time will not now be wasted collecting quotas of tokens, pressurising children and pestering parents. We hope this is the beginning of the end for commercial voucher schemes and that Tesco, SuperValu and others will take note that children are not for sale in schools.”

“We the undersigned 50 Primary school principals condemn and refuse to partake in the Irish Independent’s “Building for the Future” scheme being launched this week.

We abhor the quota of 20 tokens per pupil from Independent Newspapers required of all schools wishing to submit a project for this sponsored competition.

Independent Newspapers while posturing as benefactors are, in reality, seeking to exploit schools, boost sales and make life uncomfortable for children whose parents do not buy the sponsors newspapers.

The same Independent Newspapers who have railed ceaselessly about the apparent brevity of our school year now demand that principals spend our days collecting quotas of tokens, pressurising children, pestering parents and wasting teaching time.

Each single stream school that enters (8 classes X 27 children X 20 tokens X €1.80 per copy) must give the teacher-bashing Independent Newspapers €7,776 in sales plus thousands more in free advertising and promotion within the school and wider community.

Our stance is supported by the Irish Primary Principals Network and INTO whose executives have recommended that schools should be free from commercial presentations aimed at children and their families, including token redemptions schemes such as Building for the Future.\

We are content to use newspapers generally as aids to literacy development and teaching tools within the classroom. However, having suffered months of insult and contempt from the pages of Independent Newspapers, we refuse to act as salespeople and urge other schools to boycott this commercially-driven promotion.”

Signed:
John Threadgold - Principal, Leighlinbridge N.S. Co. Carlow
Martin Duffy - Principal, Our Lady’s NS Nurney, Co. Carlow
Feargal Hurley - Principal, Scoil an Chroí Ró Naofa, Blarney, Co. Cork
Mícheál Ó Draighneáin - Príomhoide, Scoil Bhailenóra, Corcaigh.
Michael Daly - Principal, Scoil Mhuire Gan Smal B, Glasheen BNS, Cork.
Kenneth McCarthy - Príomhoide, Kilmeen National School, Rossmore, Clonakilty, Co. Cork
Séamus O Connor - Principal, Scoil Bhríde, Crosshaven, Co. Cork.
David Oliver - Principal, Ballyraine NS, Letterkenny, Co. Donegal.
Nóirín Mhic Ualghairg -Príomhoide, Scoil Cholmcille, Duibhlinn Riabhach, Dún na nGall.
Tony Healy - Principal, St. Oliver Plunkett School, Malahide, Co Dublin
Sinead O’Kane - Principal, Griffith Barracks Multi D School, Co. Dublin.
Mark Cunningham - Principal, Holy Family J.N.S, River Valley, Swords, Co Dublin.
Maeve Daly - Príomhoide, Fionnbarra Naofa B.N.S., Cabra West, Dublin 7.
Seán O’Connor - Principal, St. Damian’s NS, Walkinstown, Co Dublin
Attracta Hayden - Principal, Glasnevin Educate Together, Church Ave. Dublin 6.
Proinsias Ó hÓgáin - Príomhoide, Scoil San Treasa, Mount Merrion, Co. Dublin.
Angela Power - Principal, St Oliver Plunkett NS, Monkstown, Co. Dublin.
Gerry Cogan - Principal,Our Lady of Consolation Sch, Donnycarney, Dublin 5.
Gráine Mc Gowan - Principal, Mt Anville PS, Stillorgan, Co Dublin.
Miriam Jenkinson - Principal, St. Patrick’s Junior School, Skerries, Co. Dublin.
Ann Creaner - Principal, St Columba’s NS, North Strand, Dublin 3.
Jim Ryan - Principal, St. Bernadette’s SNS, Quarryvale, Clondalkin, Dublin.
Aedín Ní Thuathail - Principal, Castleknock ETNS, Beechpark Avenue, Dublin 15.
Yvonne Carroll - Principal, St Brigid’s Girls School, Killester, Co. Dublin.
Mark Candon - Principal, St. Laurence O’Toole’s CBS, North Wall, Dublin 1.
Breda Murphy - Principal, Newcastle NS, Athenry, Co. Galway.
John Reilly - Príomhoide, S N Cearn Mór, Carnmore, Oranmore, Galway.
Breda Murphy - Principal, Newcastle NS, Athenry, Co. Galway.
Bernadette Moylan - Principal, Ardrahan N.S., Labane, Ardrahan, Co Galway.
Liz Mulry - Principal, Eglish NS, Ahascragh, Ballinasloe, Co. Galway.
Seán Ó hArgáin - Príomhoide, Gaelscoil Osraí, Loch Buí, Cill Chainnigh.
Aisling Tighe - Principal, Creevelea NS, Co. Leitrim
Pádraig Mc Eneany - Principal, St. Finian’s NS., Dillonstown, Co. Louth.
Ann-Marie Stenson - Principal, Aghamore NS, Co Mayo
Siobhán Geraghty - Principal, Coogue NS, Co. Mayo.
Mary A. Cawley - Principal, Crossmolina National School, Co Mayo.
Anne Walkin - Principal, Lisaniska N.S, Foxford, Co.Mayo
Fergal Fitzpatrick - Principal, Bohermeen N.S. Co. Meath.
William Keegan - Principal, St. Columbanus’ NS, Ballivor, Co Meath
Damian White - Principal, Scoil Shinchill, Killeigh, Tullamore, Co Offaly.
Emmett Breathnach - Principal, Scoil Charthaigh Naofa, Rahan, Tullamore, Co. Offaly.
Úna Feeley -Principal, Scoil Mhuire Convent Primary Sch, Co. Roscommon
Ríona Lynch - Principal, Cloonfour NS, Rooskey, Co. Roscommon.
Kevin Giblin - Principal, Tibohine N.S.,Castlerea, Co.Roscommon.
John O’Neill - Principal, Summerhill Primary School, Athlone, Co. Roscommon
Joseph Fogarty - Principal, Corballa NS, Co. Sligo
Michelle Bonner - Principal, Stokane NS, Castleconnor Co. Sligo.
Pat O’Halloran - Principal, Monastery School, Tipperary.
Treasa Nic Dhiarmada - Príomhoide, Gaelscoil Chluain Meala, An Baile Gaelach, Cluain Meala. Co Thiobraid Árann.
Siobhan Doyle - Principal, Scoil Eoin Baiste, Galbally, Co. Wexford
Loraine Rösler - Principal, Kilnamanagh N.S. Oulart, Co.Wexford.
Pat Gately - Principal, SN Clochar Mhuire, Wexford.
Seamus Kennelly - Principal, St. Mary’s NS, Ballygarrett, Gorey, Co. Wexford.
Nicholas Flynn - Principal, Adamstown N.S., Co Wexford.
Rory Healy - Principal, St. Patrick’s N.S. Bearna Chlé, Co. Wicklow.

We thought we’d seen the last of Independent Newspapers’ “Building for the Future”. Surely no company would persevere with a promotion that barred children who failed to reach their token quota? But after a 3 year hiatus this contemptible scheme is back - supported by Independent Newspapers and Bank of Ireland. The Campaign for Commercial-Free Education reviewed this marketing scheme and gave it’s verdict.

Commercial Scheme Evaluation.

Name: Building For the Future Primary Schools Initiative.

Sponsors: Independent Newspapers/Bank of Ireland/ TV3 (formerly supported by CIE Group.)

Objective: “the innovative and exciting project which has enriched primary schools throughout the nation with educational equipment and cash development grants, as well as focusing thoughts on the importance of the community to which we all contribute”

Classification: Incentive Scheme and Competition.

Year: 2000 – 2006 (Relaunched 2010)

Past Record: Building For the Future was first launched in 2000 and has run each year since. Claiming to be the “largest and best-supported initiative ever run among primary schools in Ireland”, more than 1,500 primary schools participated in Building for the Future in 2005. 

Material: Schools receive a brochure outlining this year’s theme, a wall chart, poster, collector’s card and a letter “which you might like to photocopy and give to pupils to take home.” Materials display prominently the names and logos of the sponsoring companies.  

Comments: The winning project in the Building For the Future competition receives a €20,000 grant for the school. Four provincial winners  receive a state-of-the-art Smartboard worth over €7,000, and 26 county winners will each receive a €3,000 school development cash grant. Incentives such as televisions, video recorders and digital cameras have been given to each school agreeing to take part.

Schools may not enter the scheme, however, unless they collect a specified number of tokens from the Irish Independent and Sunday Independent newspapers. The quota is set at twenty tokens per child in the school for each project (Previously 25 and 30 tokens). Thus, a typical single-stream primary school must produce 4320 tokens in order to take part. These are obtained by purchasing the Independent newspapers at €1.80 - €2 per copy. Assuming children collected single token editions of the newspaper, this would equate to €7,776 expenditure.

 (8 classes X 27 children X 20 tokens X €1.80 per copy) plus thousands more in free advertising and promotion within the school and wider community.

There are many suggestions as to how teachers may “maximise your token collection”. The wall chart contains a space for students’ names and allows you keep count of how many tokens each has brought in towards meeting their personal quota of 20. Schools are encouraged to place token collection boxes and collection cards in local newsagents. Parents, friends, neighbours and relatives are to be asked to start collecting tokens on the school’s behalf and the letter to them pleads; “I’m sure you can appreciate how much this would mean to us in developing our facilities for the children of this community.”

Recommendation:

While recognising and applauding the wonderful projects produced by students and their teachers, the Campaign for Commercial Free Education strongly condemns the token collection element of Building For the Future.

The Department of Education have long requested that school authorities

1. consider carefully the implications of allowing any situation to develop which would result in parents being put under undue pressure to purchase a particular commercial product. (Circular 7/87)

We believe this is exactly the kind of pressure being put on children, parents and the school community to purchase Independent Newspapers.  The use of wall charts to monitor individual purchases and appeals to the public to buy newspapers on behalf of the school is especially condemned.  It may be asked how previous Ministers for Education can have praised as “a wonderful learning opportunity for students” a scheme which refuses entry to students who don’t buy the sponsor’s newspaper. 

We urge people to register their disapproval and not to partake in the scheme until this exploitative demand for proof of purchase is ended. A reformed, non-commercial, Building For the Future scheme would be welcomed. The emphasis, however, must be on quality education for our schoolchildren and not Building Future Readership.

The INTO has said primary teachers should not support advertising projects by commercial companies which target children or their families through schools. The union made its announcement following the launch of a project promoted by the Irish Independent and sponsored by Bank of Ireland.

“Bank of Ireland is one of the financial institutions that contributed to this country’s economic collapse,” said Ms Ní Chuinneagáin. “It has been bailed out to date with 3.5 billion in state aid so far with more taxpayers money expected to be pumped into it. Just today, it is set to get 11.5 billion of taxpayers money through the NAMA scheme to pay for its reckless lending to developers and speculators.”

“The 1.5 million euro in sponsorship money is effectively taxpayers’ money which is being used to promote the bank through school children,” she said. “Primary teachers should not have any hand act or part in promoting the public rehabilitation of this or any other bank in this manner.”

The INTO said schools needed government investment but objected strongly to it being channelled through Bank of Ireland advertising.

“This must be a new low in trying to target school children for commercial gain,” she said.

“Because of the reckless activities of Irish banks resources to schools have been withdrawn, teacher numbers have been cut back and teachers have seen their salaries cut. It takes some brass neck to expect teachers to co-operate with an advertising scheme. ”

The INTO also said Independent Newspapers was consistent in its support for reductions in public servants pay. “It beggars belief that following this editorial line the company would now expect teachers to collect tokens to promote sales of its newspaper,” said the INTO President.

She also pointed out that the rules of the competition required a 300 pupil school community to purchase more than 10,000 euros worth of newspapers. “This shows clearly that the company is committed to self-enrichment rather than the enrichment of primary schools as the promotional material claims.”

Ms Ní Chuinneagáin said the union would make a public protest against this promotion in the near future if the companies involved did not scrap the scheme.

The INTO has an established policy in relation to the promotion of commercial products through schools (see below). It aims to prevent the exploitation of pupils for commercial ends in schools and particularly urges schools not to support proof of purchase schemes.

The union said it did not oppose all links between businesses and schools. “Many schools could not survive without the support of local businesses that regularly support local fundraising efforts. However, this is done in ways that do not seek to exploit children for financial or commercial gain in schools.”

The role of a school secretary is not to distribute commercial magazines aimed at children and parents. We recommend that schools refuse to accept unsolicited deliveries of Primary Times, refuse to incur the cost of recycling them and demand that they be returned to sender.

Primary Times is of negligible educational relevance and heavily orientated towards commercial advertising. It does not belong in schools and should be exposed as exploiting schools to deliver cynically packages advertising to children in class.

Primary Times was launched as a magazine for parents, pupils and teachers of primary schools in 1989 in Britain and now has 40 franchises, five of them in the Republic of Ireland – Dublin; Leinster, South, West and North West. Schools receive 4 editions of Primary Times each year with magazines being delivered to school secretaries and claiming to reach 235,000 families per edition.

Magazines are allocated to individual classes to be taken home by children. Advertisers pay between €175 and €1,500 to have their advertisement placed in the magazines which reader surveys found are referred to 7 times per issue at home. Recent advertisements have included those from

• McDonalds’ Lift and Strike
• Toy Story on Ice
• Tesco Computers for Schools
• Cheestrings
• Shopping centres
• Summer camps and theatre schools

The marketing value of this approach is evident in the comment by one advertiser that:

” We have found the magazine very effective as a vehicle to target school going children and their parents”

The role of a school secretary is not to distribute commercial magazines aimed at children and parents. We recommend that schools refuse to place Primary Times in children’s’ schoolbags.

We regard Primary Times as being of negligible educational relevance and heavily orientated towards commercial advertising. These advertisements serve to reinforce existing commercial schemes and, we believe, pressurise parents by promoting expensive private courses/camps and “The Must have Toy” in Christmas editions.

The assumption on the part of Primary Times that schools will blithely act a distribution agent for commercial content is considered disrespectful and exploitative. We request that parents who find copies Primary Times in their child’s schoolbag return them to the school immediately and explain why they feel this is an unsuitable medium for commercial marketing.

The provision of a local events guide or community services directory may be achieved through the use of a folder in the school lobby/entrance area into which all relevant notices are placed. Parents may then consult this material as they choose.

The first week of the new school year and another letter from a Marketing Manager - this time from An Post asking teachers to promote their Cyril the Squirrel savings scheme which they assure us is easy to set up and maintain.

While secondary schools may have to contend with AIB looking to “build” branches in their schools, Irish primary schools are not immune to financial orientated marketing schemes. An Post - the State owned post office - appear determined to reach children from 5 - 12 in school and to avail of teachers as salespeople for their initative.

The unsolicited letter which arrived in schools in the first week of September 2009 states: “We will provide a Post Office Savings Card for every pupil to track the growth of their savings. We will also send a ledger for the teacher or savings administrator (!!!!) to monitor the class’s proress. Simply purchase €1 savings stamps in your local Post office for your pupils to buy on a designated “savings” day each week”.

To order Cyril the Squirrel savings material for the school teachers may call An Post or visit their website www.savingwithcyril.ie.

To entice schools to foist this scheme on their students there is an application for the “National Young Savers Awards” where 12 schools who return the completed entry form before November 6th 2009 could win a share of the €30,000 prize fund.

While regular saving is a laudable habit for children to develop it is emphatically NOT the role or function of a primary school teacher to distribute savings cards, sell savings stamps for any financial institution or monitor which children are saving the most. The mention of a “savings administrator” to track the money collected indicates just how far removed from the busy reality of teachers’ work these marketers are. The implications for teaching time, social pressure on children and economic strain on parents are ignored as An Post lazily seek teachers to put their agenda above that of the school children.

The inducement to participate by way of a prize fund perhaps shows some awareness that teachers have no business selling stamps or hosting “savings days” each week. The application form asks teachers to inform the marketers as to how many classes/children are participating,  how often they are asked to puchase the stamps and how many are purchased on average each week. Again this kind of information regarding pupils specific savings habits is not the concern of their school and should not be passed on (as is suggested) to “Marketing Department, An Post….”

The Campaign for Commercial-Free Education urges all schools not to participate in this scheme, to teach the benefits of saving as per the Social, Personal and Health Education curriculum and to allow An Post pay their own staff to sell savings stamps on their own premesis,

The Campaign for Commercial-Free Education previously identified Allied Irish Bank’s Build a Bank Challenge as one of the biggest sponsored competitions in Ireland at the secondary level. Once again, in 2008/2009, students were interviewed by bank staff for positions as “Branch manager” and “Sales and Marketing Executive” in the school branch of the bank, sought out new account holders for AIB among their peers and took on “responsibility for providing ongoing customer service for their customers and keeping accurate financial records.” This year’s Build a Bank Challenge stood out in high relief as the bank saw its share price drop 91% in twelve months, it’s chief executive and chairman resign and the company survive only through a state guarantee and a €3.5 billion government recapitalization plan.

The scheme continues to have a high profile among many secondary schools who are keen to emulate he 2008 winners who based their bank around a jungle theme; “This included the bank staff members getting dressed up as jungle animals for the launch day, regular ‘jungle themed’ newsletters sent to customers along with plenty of goodies and freebies for customers who were regular savers.”

In an article in the Sunday Business Post, the Campaign for Commercial-Free Education lays down its unapologetically straighforward position - we’re for commercial free education for all Irish children, no if’s, but’s or ambiguity. We believe in a commercial-free space for children to grow, develop and learn to critically assess the world around them without the intrusion of ads, marketing or commercial interest. We seek to defend, in our own small way, the core democratic and child-centred mission of public schools - to deliver messages and experiences solely for the benefit of children and with no other agenda, hidden or apparent.

Read the Article by Catherine O’Mahony in Sunday Business Post, August 30th 2009

Supervalu has admitted that its vouchers for the Kids in Action programme are worthless.

The Supervalu ‘Kids in Action’ voucher scheme claims to provide schools with free sports equipment. This is a fallacy. Simple maths will explain: in order for a school to claim a ‘free’ gymnastics mat that retails at about €280, customers will have to spend €32,840 in Supervalu (i.e. 3,240 vouchers at €10 each); (Source: 2009 Supervalu’s ‘Kids in Action’ Catalogue, available at supervalukidsinaction.com)

What a scheme like this actually does is allow an under-funded education system to continue to be under-funded by allowing the government to continue to abdicate its responsibilities in this area. The line seems to be: if Supervalu are willing to provide sports equipment, why not let them? The same is true of other voucher schemes such as Tesco’s ‘Computers for Schools’ scheme, which claims to give free IT equipment to schools. Could you imagine the uproar if Supervalu et al decided to run a ‘Medical Equipment for Hospitals’ voucher scheme? Or, ‘Non-Lethal Weapons for the Gardaí’ voucher scheme?

The only free thing that comes out of this scheme is free advertising for the supermarkets. Looking at the terms and conditions, however, of this scheme we can see something very telling: Condition 8: “The nominal cash value of each Supervalu Kids in Action voucher is €0.001″. The subtext here being that the vouchers are worthless (especially when you look at Condition 19: “Vouchers are not redeemable for cash”). Indeed.

The Irish National Teachers Organisation has called on its 34,000 members to ‘reject [these campaigns] by sending the vouchers back or by putting them in the recycle bin”. Indeed, this is advice that every right thinking parent ought to consider (whilst also writing to Supervalu to let them know that we are not going to allow our education system to be co-opted by private enterprise).