Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 1 December 2022
121. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if his Department intends to calculate or record the number of students from ethnic minority groups such as the Travelling community who are entering further or higher education per annum; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [58974/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department is committed to the continued roll-out of supports and targeted initiatives to tackle educational disadvantage and support equity of access, participation and success in both further and higher education.
The new National Access Plan (NAP) was launched in August and it aims to support inclusion and diversity in our student body. It recognises the needs of vulnerable learners, including those from the Irish Traveller and Roma Community.
The target set for the NAP has been to increase the number of travellers in higher education from 33 to 150, which represents around 0.32% of the new entrant population. Traveller participation in Higher Education should be much higher, however, given the current baseline data, it is felt that this new target is reasonable.
Only limited data is currently available on the Roma community in Ireland. However, for the first time, Census 2022 included ‘Roma’ as an option category. In line with this, the Higher Education Authority has adopted similar categories in its system.
The target for the number of Travellers in higher education will be reviewed at the Mid Term review in 2025 and this will determine whether this target needs to be revised. At that point we will also look to see if the Roma data available allows for targets to be set for that community.
Whether a person decides to classify themselves as a minority group when they enter Further and Higher Education is up to the person themselves and as such this can lead to difficulty with establishing the actual number of students from any such group.
In the Further Education and Training sector, learner data is collected on the Programme and Learner Support System (PLSS). One of the questions on PLSS is in relation to a learner’s ethnicity. However, it should be noted that information in relation to ethnicity is on a self-declaration basis rather than a mandatory basis.
