Mr. Oein de Bhairdúin:

From my own experience, there is a sense of indifference within the educational structures. That experience, which is common, is of encountering an incredible hostility when one identifies oneself as a Traveller or when one raises concerns about some of the problematic material or narrative that is presented. Many people will choose to disengage rather than continuously face that daily onslaught of negativity, reduction in resources and isolation. There is no doubt in my mind that there are structures in place which are very hostile to Travellers for being Travellers.

Two things that were helpful in the past were the visiting teacher service and the provision of additional resources. One of the changes that is required is that it should be teachers from our community doing the teaching. The reduction in resources that we have described has caused significant damage because it removed linkages that were there with people who may not have been involved in the traditional structures and wanted to maintain some degree of nomadism while also valuing and wanting to pursue their educational progression. We strongly recommend that the visiting teacher service be reinstated in a new form that facilitates nomadism. Sometimes Travellers do not talk about the fact that we are nomadic, although we are limited in terms of how often we are allowed to move.