11 Nov 2019, 16:26
Equity of outcomes for Travellers in education will be discussed at tomorrow’s meeting of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community in Leinster House, Committee Room 1 at 11am.
Representatives from the National Traveller Women’s Forum, Tallaght Traveller Community Development Project, Dr. Sindy Joyce and Ms Catherine Joyce will make presentations to the Committee on the issue.
There is a large difference between Travellers and the general population in the level of education completed. About one in ten (13 per cent) Traveller children complete second level education compared to nine out of ten (92 per cent) children in the general population. More than half of Travellers who drop out of second level have done so by the age of 15. The number of Traveller children who go onto third level represents just 1 per cent of the Traveller community.
The Committee will be investigating this educational disadvantage, in terms of the reasons behind it, the effects it has on the lives of those in the Traveller community and the strategies that can be put in place to address it.
Watch the meeting live.