Traveller education needs highlighted

CHILDREN from the Traveller community are up to five times more likely to have special educational needs than other pupils, research on education for the minority group has found.

The finding is one of many which highlight the need to improve services for Traveller education, in a report by the Department of Education inspectorate.

It examined the provision of education for Travellers in 30 primary and six second level schools, and found that more than 20% of children were assessed as having special educational needs.

This compares with around 4% to 6% in the general population.

“Schools with a significant number of Traveller pupils enrolled should have increased access to the psychological and counselling services for Traveller pupils whose behaviour is particularly inappropriate,” the report says.

The inspectorate report also suggests that psychologists should work with staff, students and parents in devising and implementing initiatives that would contribute to building Traveller students’ self-esteem, confidence, social skills and a sense of belonging in the school community.

A key finding was the reference by teachers to the low expectations of education held by Traveller parents but some parents said that teachers had low expectations for their children.

A high proportion of Traveller pupils were ranked at the lowest level on literacy and numeracy tests at primary level, although data was unavailable for up to 30% of pupils.

“These findings should be of concern to policy-makers, school managements and teachers in view of the importance of literacy and numeracy as springboards for access to other curricular areas,” the report said.