Plan to increase Irish Travellers in education

Research shows that 70% of young people from the Irish Traveller community are not in further education or training

The Irish government aims to increase the number of Traveller and Roma children remaining in school to achieve a Leaving Certificate.

A six-year strategy to improve educational outcomes was published on Tuesday.

In 2019, EU researchers found that 70% of young people (16-18 year olds) from the Irish Traveller community were not in further education or training, compared to 5% of young Irish people generally.

The following year, the Irish government committed to enhancing access to higher and further education for students from Traveller and Roma communities.

The cross-departmental Traveller and Roma Education Strategy (TRES) has been devised as a “whole-of-government approach to improving the lives of Travellers and Roma”, according to the Department of Education.

What is the Traveller and Roma Education Strategy?

The government says the strategy was developed to "meet the needs of children, young people and adults"

The Department of Education said the strategy has been "specifically developed to meet the needs of children, young people and adults from the Traveller and Roma communities" with the aim of enhancing their education and outcomes.

Some of these key actions outlined in the plan include to:

• Increase the numbers of young people remaining in school until sixth year and achieving a Leaving Certificate

• Promote training on inclusion and diversity through teacher learning

• Promote diversity in the education workforce

• Teach Traveller culture and history through the curriculum

• Ensure all Traveller and Roma children participate in a two-year preschool programme

• Ensure that students accessing tertiary education have a positive and welcoming experience

• Create safe and inclusive higher education campuses

• Research and identify barriers to accessing tertiary education

Under an initial two-year plan, two national coordinators will be appointed to support the implementation of actions within the strategy.

Family Link Workers will also be appointed to support the full roll out of a parenting support programme.

Ambitious goals

The strategy's publication was announced by Minister for Education Norma Foley TD, Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth Roderic O’Gorman TD and Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science Patrick O’Donovan TD.

In a statement, Minister Foley said the government "is committed to strengthening awareness and promotion of inclusion and tackling racism across the education system".

In the coming weeks, the Irish government is set to publish a new Traveller and Roma inclusion strategy, Minister O'Gorman said.

"TRES will be an important driver in that strategy’s key theme of education," he continued.

Minister O'Donovan added: "[It] ensures that everyone, regardless of background or education, can access higher education without barriers.

"The strategy's goals are ambitious, but aiming high is essential for creating a more inclusive Ireland.”

Racism and discrimination

Traveller rights organisation Pavee Point welcomed the strategy and has urged for its “rapid implementation”.

"The strategy needs to ensure that Travellers' education experiences, which all too often have been of racism and discrimination, can no longer get in the way of our community's education ambitions," said co-director Martin Collins.

The organisation has called on the Department of Education to “ensure that the strategy contains targets and timelines to support parity of participation at all levels, as well as dedicated resources."

However, there is a lack of data on Roma children, according to Pavee Point, which they said “needs to be addressed” to set “appropriate and realistic” goals.

"Barriers which prevent many Roma children participating in education such as the Habitual Residence Condition, lack of Child Benefit, as well as language issues, need to be urgently addressed," said Vanessa Paszkowska, Pavee Point’s Roma education worker.

In the United Kingdom, members of the Traveller community are also the least likely to enter higher education.

The Higher Education Policy Institute said 10.7% of Irish Travellers in the UK access higher education by the age of 19 and 6.9% of Gypsy or Roma young people.

That is much lower than the overall rate for the UK, where about 37% of all 18-year-olds enter higher education.