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Report on Travellers and Post Primary Education

Draft Report from the Limerick conference on Traveller and Post Primary Education

Held on 14 February 1998 by The Irish Traveller Movement

INTRODUCTION

Fintan Farrell gave an outline of proceedings for the day emphasising the key role of the workshops. Maureen Ward welcomed delegates including representatives from the Department of Education and other relevant groups. The focus of the day was on "Travellers and Post Primary Education" a Report compiled by the ITM resulting from a series of workshops around the country, bringing together both Traveller parents and pupils from different areas. Fintan stressed the importance of the outcomes and recommendations of the day, as they would be incorporated into this Report to be presented to the Minister for Education on March 4^th.

A summary of the Report "Travellers and Post Primary Education" was given by Fintan who highlighted the fact that many recommendations in the Report are not specific to Travellers, and if implemented, would benefit all students, not only Travellers. It was hoped to have the Minister for Education or indeed the Junior Minister to speak at the conference, however neither were available on this particular date. It was acknowledged, however, that the meeting arranged for the 4^th March with the minister was a big step forward. The poor representation of Travellers in Post Primary education is a complex issue and though significant advances have been made with relation to starting post primary education in certain areas, for example, Galway and Tipperary, this is usually less so in city areas which requires urgent attention.

The points summarised came under the broad headings included in the original Report.

Transition from Primary to Post Primary:

Traveller pupils often find it difficult to keep up with the range of subjects and the longer school day at Post Primary level
Higher costs at Post Primary level are a major issue
The age at transition is usually older with Traveller children than with settled
Often feelings of isolation are experienced by Traveller children as well as having to deal with peer pressure from those who remain at home
Problems with homework are usually related to conditions of accommodation
Traveller parents felt that it was harder for their children to make the transition to Post Primary if they had already been in special classes at Primary school

Curriculum

Traveller children experienced most difficulty with the Irish language
Practical subjects are most popular with Traveller children
Traveller culture is not mentioned in the curriculum

School Environment

Schools that do make adjustments benefit from positive change and learn from Traveller participation
Low expectations of Travellers produces a negative effect
Traveller parents memories of their own school experiences are often negative, for example, hostility and bullying
Traveller parents prefer Traveller Training Centres over Post Primary schools for their children

Family and Home Environment

All issues are linked with accommodation difficulties and discrimination

Although Traveller Training Centres were mentioned in the "Travellers and Post Primary Education" Report it was pointed out that a new Report more specifically focussing on the role of Traveller Training Centres is currently being developed by Pavee Point.

The second part of the presentation concentrated on the 1995 Report of the Task Force on the Travelling Community. It was recognised that some advances have been made, for example, the setting up of the National Accommodation Consultative Committee and the Traveller Accommodation Bill, but there is still along way to go. The Department of Education's Visiting Teacher Service was also acknowledged as a step forward but it was stated that this was not enough. Hope was expressed that a special committee within the Department of Education could be set up to bring together all the key players, indicating a commitment to the Partnership 2000 approach. A summary of the Report's key recommendations was also outlined.

Further Challenges:

Access to Post Primary Schools is still an issue, despite rule 10
Advances must be made with regard to Equal Status Legislation
Intercultural Education is the way forward and needs to be advanced further and is not solely for the benefit of Travellers, nevertheless, Traveller participation is very important

Recommendations:

The setting up of a special committee within the Department of Education to deal with the issue of Travellers and Post Primary Education
The costs of Post Primary Education need to be addressed
The curriculum needs to be modified to fully include Travellers in school
Training and support for teachers needs to be supplied
Training Centres should not be viewed as an alternative to Post Primary Education for Travellers
Special help should be on needs basis and not for all Traveller pupils
Traveller Organisations need to create a forum for dialogue between groups and policy-makers in which Traveller participation is maximised
Travellers should have a direct role in Adult Education, in terms of Traveller participation and attainment
Local Partnerships, as well as ADM also have a role in including Travellers as a target group

The Report was referred to as only the starting point to set the context of the day. Written comments on it would be welcomed by ITM.

WORKSHOPS

The purpose of the first set of workshops was to identify issues in the area and to elaborate on these, with the main focus being on Post Primary education rather than Primary.

Issues emanating from the workshops were as follows:

School attendance law is enforced only in some areas, a new Attendance Bill is due to be published
Compulsory Education is no solution
Issue of transport is problematic
Different schools have different facilities, e.g. book rental schemes
Lack of resource teachers
Guidelines regarding resource teachers remain vague
Traveller children often being singled out for remedial help solely due to fact that they are Travellers, not based on need
Age appropriate classes - Traveller children are often kept in primary school until the ages of 13 or 14
Often two sets of homework given out, an additional set by the resource teacher
Resource teachers lacking adequate knowledge of Traveller culture
Need for inter-cultural and anti-racist strategies
Lack of adequate job description and support for resource teachers
Lack of parental information on resource teachers role
Need for networking between resource teachers
Temptation of using Traveller Training Centres as an alternative to Post Primary education
Costs of Post Primary Education - lack of information to parents around these
Primary and Post Primary education are closely linked - low literacy is no justification for denial of access to post primary
Refusal of access on basis of quotas
Schools and teachers need proper in-service training
Cultural bias - need for respect for Traveller culture
Emphasis on positive - should not lapse into a culture of blame, there is a need for communication and linking between Traveller groups, Partnerships, etc.
Issue of nomadism is often denied with relation to rules on closing dates
Education strongly linked to accommodation
Issue of intimidation of Traveller pupils by their peers

AFTERNOON SESSION

Paul Ginnell welcomed people back to the conference and commented on the high level of representation from the Department of Education and other organisations. The presence of Mr John Murphy of the Traveller Accommodation Unit in the Department of the Environment was acknowledged as evidencing ongoing commitment from this Department in terms of providing support for Travellers and also illustrates the clear link between accommodation and education. Paul then gave an outline of events for the afternoon and welcomed the panel of speakers, each of whom had been invited to give an input on Travellers and Post Primary Education from their own perspective. Questions were welcomed from the delegation by the speakers.

Cindy Kelly, a resource teacher at the Presentation Secondary School in Galway gave an input on the situation regarding Traveller participation at this particular school. She stressed the role of the resource teacher as vital but that many problems still exist surrounding this service, including the following:

Problems of time allocated to resource teachers
Assessments are not culturally appropriate for Travellers
Hearing and sight problems should be dealt with at primary level

Role of School with Resource Teacher

School policy of integration
Withdrawals from classes are mixed - both Traveller and settled pupils
Need for orientation and pre-assessment of all children before intake
No more special treatment of Travellers in terms of "freebies" - equal treatment of all pupils on basis of need and disadvantage
Pre-enrolment visit - so as to plan in advance
Importance of liaison with Visiting teacher
Importance of visiting parents and maintaining open and constant communication
Liaison with Health Authorities, Gardai, Social Services
Communication with other teaching staff is essential
Importance of study tuition for every year is essential for homework purposes
Provision of pastoral care
Book rental scheme in place - all pupils treated the same makes a huge difference to teachers attitudes
Availability of school uniforms from past leaving cert students reduces costs

Nancy Collins gave an input from a Traveller perspective. She drew attention to several issues which came from her own experiences but which may also reflect the experiences of others.

Tokenism - it is often the case that while one or two Traveller children may be made welcome in a school when others follow suit the schools' attitude may change
Traveller children need a lot of encouragement to combat the per pressure from home to discontinue schooling
School attendance rules are not always enforced
There is a lack of Traveller culture within the school curriculum
There are low expectations of Travellers in mainstream education
The system's view of settled children as "normal" and Traveller children as somehow "odd"
The age of Traveller children at transition from Primary to Post Primary is often older that that of settled children
Peer pressure - it is often difficult for Traveller children to see the benefits of schooling when others remain at home on the sites. It stresses the importance of Traveller companionship at school
Homework Problems are related to accommodation problems like lack of space and privacy
It is more difficult to get boys to attend Post Primary school
Transport - there are often problems with the school bus system to and from the sites
Problems at Post Primary are closely linked to problems at Primary level

Sinead McDonagh is a transition year student in Finglas. Sinead made the decision to stay on at school despite peer pressure to go to a Traveller training centre. She now wishes to continue to third level to pursue a career in social work. She attributes her success to the ongoing support from her parents and family. Any problems encountered by Sinead were a reiteration of those, which had been highlighted by preceding members of the panel.

Maugie Francis, the National Education Officer for Travellers, paid tribute to ITM for the workshops and general consultative process undertaken by them. Traveller parents were also complimented for very bravely sending their children to Post Primary school, thereby paving the way for a better future. Maugie paid tribute in particular to Sinead and other students like her for challenging the education system to make change. She commented on the increase in the numbers of Travellers transferring to Post Primary education. She expressed hope that ITM will in the future hold more gatherings such as this. In addition of wider society and that discrimination is an issue at both Primary and Post Primary levels. She explained on this by asserting that the denial of access on the basis of full Traveller quotas is unjustifiable and that the present system is not user friendly for Travellers, for example, in terms of the enrolment process. She also commented on the fact that assessment test should only be for those already accepted into Post Primary education, but that these guidelines are not being adhered to. Costs were referred to as another major issue as, now, there is even a charge for assessment.

Maugie Francis drew attention to attainment levels by Travellers remaining below average. She stressed the need for research into models of support which would inform the system as to how to put such support structures in place. With relation to attendance levels, she noted that attendance at transfer time is crucial and that the law should be used as protection if needed, with sensitivity and care, lack of attendance should never be considered the fault of the child. A huge challenge pointed out by Maugie Francis for the future is the lack of intercultural resources at present, however, she emphasised the importance of taking care not to do more harm than good. A more effective system of in-service training needs to be designed but which would represent a huge task to reach all teachers was another future challenge pointed out by Maugie Francis. She highlighted existing models around the country regarding help with homework and added that there is a need to network and evaluate such models. Maugie Francis acknowledged the number of Traveller parents and highlighted the fact that often their needs are neglected due to a lack of engagement with Traveller parents, the most important educator of Traveller children.

Maugie Francis also paid tribute to Micheal McCann, the principle of the Galway Presentation school and the attitude of justice which permeates the school. She also noted that other schools do have the same ethos, though some school principles may lose sight of this due to fear, intimidation or threats. It was pointed out that, in the past, segregated education did not benefit Travellers and that new models need to be looked at to support Traveller children in mainstream education. Maugie Francis closed her address by thanking the ITM and other organisations for their support and stressed the continuing need to work together in the true partnership sense.

The Panel was thanked for their valuable contributions and the delegation again divided into workshops.

Feedback from workshops

Intercultural and anti-racist training:

Needs to begin at training centres and other related institutions
Ongoing pre and in-service training needs to be made available to teachers, staff, parents (via the National Parents Council) and pupils.

Resource Teachers:

A more creative and appropriate way of employing the services of the resource teachers should be put into place, at both primary and post primary levels.
Guidelines on resource teachers should be made clearer

Additional Resources:

Need for more at post primary level in terms of teachers, transport and uniform grants
Information relating to grants available needs to be made readily accessible to parents

Staff Conduct:

The Department of Education need to produce a code of practice with relation to an intercultural and anti-racist ethos within and without schools
Such a code needs to be monitored and evaluated

Visiting Teacher Service:

Needs to be expanded throughout the entire country

Training Centres:

Need for greater links to be established between these and the post primary schools in the area
School and training centres should complement rather than undermine each other

Travellers and Traveller organisations:

Should be represented on the Advisory Committee on Traveller Education
Needs to push for Task Force recommendations to be fully implemented and Equal Status legislation to be pushed through

General:

Over 12's should be transferred accordingly into age appropriate classes
Primary schools with over 12's should not be allocated capitation grants or resource teachers for these students
Appropriate funding should be made available at Post Primary level

Close of Proceedings

The Conference was closed by Kathleen Stokes, a member of the ITM Central Group. She commented on how positive it was to see as many interested Travellers and settled people present. Thanks were also extended to the Mary Immaculate College for hosting the two-day event.

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