John Connolly (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

I have to say, as someone from the teaching profession who has held the position of school principal, it is extremely disappointing to hear the lived experience of my colleagues, particularly regarding school enrolment and admission. Do we have some data on this? Do we know whether members of the Traveller community have taken section 29 appeals against schools that have declined their application to enrol? If we do, have they been successful? Who supports families in this situation? A Traveller or settled family might have encountered a school declining their application to enrol but may not be aware of the section 29 process. Who supports them in trying to do that?

Do we have data on the number of Traveller families who make applications to Tusla to educate their children at home? It would be interesting to see that. I have experienced it in my professional background. A number of Traveller families made such applications. It disappointed me but that was their choice. Is it widespread or was it an isolated incident?

To go back to the information provided earlier on dropout rates, it seems that third year of secondary school is an issue. If we know that, surely we have to develop a strategy around it. Of course, the strategy would involve additional personnel in schools. I do not want to personalise everything but nothing disappointed me more than a Traveller pupil going through our primary school, getting on really well, attaining a high level of education and feeling part of the community - this was our perception and it might not have been their perception - and then they went on to secondary school and we heard back they had left secondary school and had not got on as well. It used to disappoint me greatly. I understand fully, and I agree, that good habits start very young. If we know that in third year in secondary school there is a drop from 90% to less than 30% or 40%, surely we have to have a strategy to intervene at that point and say we can do better.

In the past, there used to be an allocation of a supplementary teacher for schools with a significant number of enrolments from the Traveller community. This was cut a number of years ago. It was cut on the grounds there might have been an element of discrimination, or an inference of discrimination or highlighting ethnic difference. Was that a good idea? Should we review it again? Does the model we have for allocating supplementary teachers to schools take account of schools where there is a significant population of children from the Traveller community? Are schools weighted heavier in terms of the proportion of supplementary teachers they get because of that? I am not sure whether the strategy says this, but I know that DEIS rural schools do not have home-school liaison officers. That is something we need to look at. The strategy for Traveller and Roma children should look at making sure that in each DEIS school there is a home-school liaison officer. I would like one in every school but particularly in DEIS rural schools there is a need for them.

The issue of transition has come up a lot in many discussions. Recent research undertaken by the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, on the EPSEN Act showed that families do not exhibit the same level of satisfaction with transition as they do with other aspects of their school journey. There is transition from preschool to junior infants and from primary school to secondary school but for Traveller families there is a higher level of transition as, perhaps because of the tradition of travelling, they may enrol in various schools in various locations. Do we have any data on these transitions? How do we monitor this and make sure it does not have an impact? Senator Noonan mentioned that we should have preschool facilities on the site of primary schools. That is a good idea. There would be higher participation rates from Traveller families if we did so. We should look at that.

The Minister has advised me the NCSE has published transition guidelines between all stages of education designed to assist parents to support their children to make successful transitions. Should there be a specific strategy on supporting Traveller children during the transitionary period? I welcome the appointment of the community link workers. Will they be Tusla employees or Department of education employees? Will they be teachers? The number, at 15, seems small. Where will they be located or how will they be allocated throughout the country? It is a positive development and I look forward to them starting their roles.

As I have gone through my teaching career, I have pondered the benefit of homework. The application of homework suits certain families more than others. It is an advantage for many families but it is a disadvantage for some and it makes life more difficult. It makes school life more difficult for some children.

I asked the Minister recently when was the last time any information was provided by the Department in terms of homework, be it curricular or circular. That was some time ago and we need to look at it.

Do we know if many members of the Traveller community are working in the education sector? Do we have a strategy around trying to promote this? Given the importance of family support in terms of educational access and provision, are people employed in Traveller support groups with the specific remit of helping families through the education process?