Ms Maria Joyce:

One direct outcome from the levels of racism within the education system relates to the poor expectations, or lack thereof, of teachers for their Traveller pupils, which directly impacts on their opportunities to transfer through each respective level, whether primary to post-primary or post-primary to third level. If children go through a system that constantly reinforces everything negative and the perception that they will not get on and achieve, what is the point in investing in and teaching them because they will just drop out of school? Many of them drop out of school because of those low expectations and because of their negative experience of the education system. Part of it relates to the fact that they do not see outcomes from education, such as the link to employment or other higher education opportunities. All of this occurs in tandem, but that does not take away from the overarching responsibility of the fundamental change needed in the context of the education system.