Thousands of Traveller children miss out on schooling: report

The provision of education for Traveller pupils must be "dramatically improved" as around 10-12,000 children have slipped through the secondary education net, according to a new report launched today by Ofsted.

The report, 'Provision and Support for Traveller pupils', estimated there were between 10-12,000 Traveller children of secondary age who are not registered at school. It also stated that the average attendance rate for Traveller pupils was around 75% - well below the national average and the worst attendance profile of any minority ethnic group.

The term 'Traveller' is used to cover a wide range of identifiable groups, some of which have minority ethnic status, who either are, or have been, associated traditionally with a nomadic lifestyle. These include Gypsies/Roma and Travellers of Irish heritage, fairground families, circus families, New Age Travellers, bargees and other families living on boats.

In the report, the vast majority of the finding relate to Gypsies/Roma and Travellers of Irish heritage.

Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools David Bell said: "I am very worried by the findings of this report. Traveller children are being denied the education they need in order to make informed choices about their future careers. Not enough Traveller pupils stay for any significant period in secondary school.

"Traveller pupils linger on the periphery of the education system. The alarm bells rung in earlier reports have yet to be heeded. There needs to be a concerted effort by the government, local education authorities and schools to address this issue."

Inspectors were "deeply concerned" about the increasing trend of Traveller parents to teach their children at home, especially at secondary age. They found the adequacy, suitability and quality of such provision "very uneven" and difficult to monitor.

Today's report cited a "lack of flexibility in the curriculum, deep-seated prejudice in the community and poor understanding of Traveller culture and lifestyles" as possible reasons for the increase in this trend.

The report recommended that those with national responsibility should provide guidance to LEAs to improve the level, accuracy and confidence of Travellers to declare their ethnicity so that more realistic and precise data are available; and to provide guidance for LEAs on the education at home of Traveller pupils which takes accounts of the educational entitlement of Traveller pupils.

(gmcg)