Travellers still face Prejudice according to New Report
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Travellers still face Prejudice according to New Report
23.06.2010

Prejudice and cultural differences are generating significant barriers which prevent Travellers from progressing on to further education and employment, according to the TEACH report, the first comprehensive study of Traveller progression in Irish society which was launched today (June 23rd 2010).

Speaking at the launch, Senator Joe O’Toole said that the report showed how Travellers had been both ‘failed by society and failed by education.’  The independent study was commissioned in response to the McCarthy report  which recommended the phasing out of 33 Traveller Training Centres nationally. 

The research set out to examine why so few Travellers are progressing into work and education in Irish society and makes a number of recommendations based on the findings. Carried out by Dr Niamh Hourigan (Sociology, UCC) and Maria Campbell (St. Angela’s College of Education), the report uses data gathered during an extensive series of interviews and focus groups with Travellers, employers and education stakeholders to examine low rates of Traveller progression into employment and further education. The reality of Traveller participation at all levels of the education system is radically different from the aspirations towards Traveller integration contained in official Irish education policy. Despite the high rate of Traveller enrolment in the primary school system, just 102 Travellers completed the Leaving Certificate in 2007/2008 from a total Traveller population of 22,369. More than 80% of Traveller students had left the school system prior to completion of their second level education.

The researchers identified a number of obstacles that are still preventing Travellers from progressing through the education system.

‘From Travellers perspectives, the main obstacle to progression identified was prejudice from the settled community. Travellers believed that there was a huge stigma attached to their cultural identity. 20% of Travellers in our sample who had participated in the workforce or further education had hidden their Traveller identity from co-workers or fellow students’ explained Dr Hourigan.

The McCarthy report recommends that students from the existing Traveller Training Centres simply be mainstreamed into the broader adult education system. However, after the closure of the Traveller Training Centre in Mullingar in 2008, the researchers found that none of the 52 Travellers attending the Centre had subsequently entered mainstream adult education programmes. Given this context, the researchers also sought to investigate the difficulties experienced by Traveller in mainstream education services.

Dr Hourigan added ‘the majority of Travellers in our sample described the mainstream school system in Ireland as the place where they first became aware of the stigma associated with being a Traveller. They described being mocked because of their modes of speech and many interviewees experienced racist name-calling’.

Reacting to the findings, Senator O’Toole said: ‘It is widely acknowledged that the intercultural integration of Travellers has made little enough progress and this has led to misunderstanding and racist attitudes towards the Travelling community in many parts of the country.  Commenting on the McCarthy recommendations regarding Senior Traveller Training Centres, he said that ‘they reflected the uninformed attitude of much of the Irish establishment towards the needs of the Travelling Community.’

Based on the findings, the report acknowledges that while Traveller Training Centres may have to be phased out, the provision of dedicated adult education spaces for Traveller with the VEC system will be a necessity for many years to come.  The report also recommends the establishment of new initiatives which combine education with practical work placements which would introduce Travellers to the practices and cultural expectations of Irish workplace. Finally, there needs to be a support system available through these Traveller VEC units to assist Travellers as they progress into mainstream further education and the workforce. Failure to address these barriers to Traveller integration will only lead to the further marginalisation of Travellers in Irish society. 

An Executive Summary of the main research findings is available from Dr Niamh Hourigan, n.hourigan@ucc.ie

Picture: Dr Niamh Hourigan, UCC (right) and Maria Campbell, St Andrew's College, Sligo (left) pictured today (June 23rd 2010) in Dublin with Senator Joe O'Toole at the launch of The Teach Report which they authored Traveller Education and Adults: 'Crisis Challenge and Change'.

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