Ms Maria Joyce:

We also welcome the opportunity to speak today on this issue of reduced timetables as they impact on Traveller children. There are no clear policies or guidelines on how the practice of reduced timetables is deployed in Ireland. We also do not know how the use of such reduced timetables impacts on Traveller pupils or on children from other groups. This has become a major concern. We have raised these concerns with the National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy, NTRIS, steering committee and also directly with the Department of Education and Skills. No data or collated information is available on the practice of reduced timetables in schools. I will now outline some concerns raised by local Traveller organisations.

Traveller organisations have witnessed a major regression in Traveller education since the cuts to educational supports for Travellers during the recession. The issue of Traveller children on reduced hours has almost reached the point where it has become policy rather than an exceptional measure for a child with particular needs. It is resorted to far too easily and not as a last option. Evidence needs to be documented of the efforts made by schools to deal with a situation before putting reduced timetables in place and a range of safeguards are needed once that process is implemented.

Instead of placing Traveller children on reduced hours, we believe that schools need to look at the root causes of Traveller children's unhappiness in a system that does not recognise, value or celebrate their unique culture and identity. Reduced timetables have been implemented while young Travellers are placed on waiting lists for psychological assessments. As waiting times can be lengthy, Traveller children can then be on reduced timetables for prolonged periods without any additional supports. The schools have given limited resources as the reason for this practice when challenged by Traveller organisations. Reduced hours in school is often the complete opposite of what students need, however. In fact, what is needed is an increase in supports.

Challenging reduced timetables can often elicit a response involving a reference to poor attendance. This point appears to be contradictory. Local Traveller organisations are trying to support the young Travellers' attendance, achievement and attainment in education. It can be difficult to do that if reducing hours is seen as a direct response to addressing poor attendance. Such practices only add to the problem because the absence of children from school leaves them further behind academically and adds to resistance in respect of attendance. The children should be provided with extra one-to-one support, resource hours and some system that takes into account the child’s additional needs. Reduced timetables for Traveller children in primary school have a double negative impact. They are losing out on an education in primary school but are then expected to go into post-primary education and deal with increased subjects and multiple teachers during a much longer day.

It is a given that these children will fall out of the system. We see this as another form of segregated provision, albeit by a different name. Travellers appear to be placed in this situation disproportionately to the wider community. Regarding positive implementation of reduced timetables in individual cases, we can see how reduced timetables might support a young student with an illness or a medical condition. That could mean the difference between receiving an education or not. For Traveller children, however, this system is being put in place without reason or logic. Reduced hours are also being used to manage behaviour and that is feeding into low expectations.

Our recommendations include a proposal that an independent investigation be undertaken by the Ombudsman for Children. A clear picture of the nature and extent of the use of reduced timetables is needed urgently, including the reasons for and the consequences of the system in use. We also recommend that the Department of Education and Skills develop clear guidelines and protocols regarding this practice. The guidelines on the rationale for and appropriate use of reduced timetables should be developed in consultation with schools, parents and stakeholders. They should have a human rights and equality ethos and be given a statutory basis. The guidelines must also contain a clear outline of a complaints process if a parent is dissatisfied with the practice of reduced timetable as it relates to their child.