Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Question 241: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the action being taken to address the findings of Thomas Hammerberg, Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, who estimated on the 15 of September 2011 that 30% of Roma children in Ireland attend school and that 95% of Roma women in Ireland cannot read or write in any language; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8144/12]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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All children are entitled to pre-school, primary and post-primary education, irrespective of nationality or ethnicity. All children are, in fact, required to attend from age 6 - 16 years. A student's nationality is noted at primary and post-primary schools. Whether a student from Romania or Hungary etc. is a member of the Roma community is not noted.

If a student has identified educational needs, such as gaining proficiency in the language of instruction or difficulties with literacy or numeracy, then assistance is provided based on the student's educational needs and not on their cultural background. If a student has a poor attendance record, a significant amount of data is collected by the school about the student and provided to the NEWB but data on their ethnicity is not recorded.

The Intercultural Education Strategy was launched in 2010. Amongst its ten key components are "mainstreaming of education provision" and "knowledge of the language of instruction". English as a Second Language (ESOL) classes are provided free of charge by Vocational Education Committees (VECs) as part of adult literacy provision, based on local demand, and are open to all adults (of the 54,000 adult literacy participants in 2010, some 11,500 were ESOL participants). There have been some initiatives organised specifically for Roma women.

Into the future, the approach to provision of further education programmes will continue to be one that is inclusive, mainstreamed and available to all based on identified educational need, irrespective of nationality or ethnicity.