Editorials

The Irish Times view on Traveller children at school: Feeling unwanted

The education system is still often not meeting the needs of the community’s children

Though we have progressed from the days of blatant discrimination against Traveller children, it is clear the education system is still often not meeting their needs. Photograph: Dave Thompson/PA Wire
Though we have progressed from the days of blatant discrimination against Traveller children, it is clear the education system is still often not meeting their needs. Photograph: Dave Thompson/PA Wire
Fri Oct 01 2021 - 00:02

It is not exactly news that too many Traveller children are not fulfilling their potential at school. Census 2016 data tell us 57 per cent of Traveller men and 54 per cent of Traveller women left school with no formal qualifications, compared with 14 per cent and 12 per cent respectively in the general population.

Just one per cent of Traveller men and 1.5 per cent of Traveller women have a third level degree or higher, compared with 25 per cent of men and 31 per cent of women generally.

Though we have progressed from the days of blatant discrimination against Traveller children, which saw them separated from their peers into different classes or even different schools, it is clear the education system is still often not meeting the needs of the community’s children.

A Government-commissioned report, Out of the Shadows, details how Traveller children do not feel included, wanted or safe in school – especially at second level – while their parents, many of whom experienced dreadful treatment during their schooldays, fear for them while they are in school.

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Despite several Government strategies over the past 15 years, including most recently the National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy 2017-2021, promising to value Traveller identity in education and increase their participation at senior levels, this report says: “Rather than feeling a strong sense of belonging, the predominant feeling amongst the parents and students from the Travelling community . . . is one of being unwanted – both in school and by the settled community more generally”.

It would be too easy to blame schools for an education system still failing Traveller children. The Department of Education’s decision 10 years ago to withdraw the visiting teacher service for Travellers saved just €2.4 million but deprived Traveller children of a key support.

The sense of not being wanted is one that blights the lives of Travellers well beyond the school gates. Educational spaces must be a safe and welcoming for all children if they are to thrive there, but schools need support to deliver that.