The Society of St Vincent de Paul has written to all teachers' unions to ask them to stop the constant changeover in schoolbooks.
A spokesperson for the society said it is very concerned about the cost of books and changes now that grants have been discontinued for schools that are not designated as ‘disadvantaged’.
The SVP said the practice of requiring classes to have revised textbooks at the start of each school year makes it impossible for families to buy second-hand books or to hand books down to younger children.
Figures released by children's charity Barnardos earlier this month showed that schoolbooks cost an average of €100 for primary school children.
It can cost as much as €390 for a child entering first year in secondary school.
The TUI has warned that hundreds of students around the country will attend classes without schoolbooks next week.
'We suggest strongly that there should be no syllabus changes while the book grant remains suspended.
'Every time there is a syllabus change all previous books for the subject are made redundant and new books are produced by the publishers. This will put impossible pressures on families who once benefitted from the book aid and are already in dire financial straits due to a range of pressures. '
TUI General Secretary Peter McMenamin says his members have already been told to keep book changes to a minimum.
