Minister Harris announces €450,000 to support Travellers and Roma in higher education

Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Simon Harris, has today announced ring-fenced funding of €450,000 from the Dormant Accounts Fund, for targeted supports to tackle the impact of COVID-19 on both Traveller and Roma students.

This is a 50% increase on last year’s funding, provided to higher education institutions for Traveller students to ensure that COVID-19 did not widen the existing and very significant gap in higher education between Travellers and the wider population.

Speaking today, Minister Harris said:

Higher education institutions utilised funding in 2021 to provide supports including:

• once-off payments or bursaries to Traveller students in need of resources
• mentoring and mental health supports
• digital connectivity support and purchase of laptops for second level students from Traveller community
• academic support, teaching support, revision classes, consultation events for Traveller students
• race and equality training for staff and student leaders
• building and expanding on pre-entry partnerships
• adapting Traveller outreach activities
• funding outreach activities with Traveller community
• strengthening pre-entry supports by working with community partners (to assist Traveller students and their families in navigating the process from application stage to registration)
• initiatives supporting progression & retention of Traveller students
• establishment of Traveller-led support service
• supporting and engaging parents from the Travelling community

This funding measure is in addition to those already in place to support the Action Plan for Increasing Traveller participation in Higher Education, 2019 to 2021.

The funding will enable the building of an inter-agency community approach led by higher education institutions, in collaboration with local Traveller and Roma organisations. It will have transformative long-term benefits for the Traveller and Roma communities.

To make a meaningful difference, funding will be ring-fenced to higher education institutions (HEIs) specifically for increasing traveller and Roma participation in tertiary education, supported by the development of a community based inter-agency approach led by the HEIs to:

• increase Traveller and Roma participation in higher education through increased engagement between HEIs and local and national Traveller & Roma organisations
• facilitate improved linkages with Travellers & Roma in schools and further education settings
• focus on mature student participation
• provide better information on supports available and work with parents to assist with SUSI, CAO and PATH 2 (1916 Bursaries) application processes

Supporting these key areas, resourcing will address the following four areas:

• technology
• study space
• health and social impact
• caring responsibilities

The fund will enable development of an interagency community approach led by HEIs, in collaboration with local Traveller and Roma organisations. It will support and promote the building of partnerships between HEIs and local and national Traveller and Roma organisations, as well as schools, and all other relevant education and training bodies. The overall objective is to safeguard increases in participation in Higher Education by the Traveller and Roma community during the pandemic and mitigate against the risk of long-term damage arising from COVID-19. It will have transformative long-term benefits for the Traveller and Roma community and the costs involved will be offset by longer-term economic contributions in a community with a current unemployment rate of 85%.

The third National Access Plan for Equity of Access to Higher Education (NAP) (2015 to 2021) identifies the target groups that are currently under-represented in higher education, including Irish Travellers. A target of 80 from a baseline of 35 was set for the duration of NAP for Traveller participation. In 2018 a progress update indicated some success but also highlighted the need for a more focussed intervention, resulting in the Action Plan for Traveller Participation in Higher Education, 2019 to 2021. Participation by Travellers in higher education remains at an alarming low level and recent data shows only 61 Travellers in higher education – approximately 1% of Travellers have a third-level education. Considerable work and actions, including the Action Plan for Traveller participation in Higher Education had been put in place pre-COVID-19 as key enablers to ensure delivery of the target as set out tin the National Plan for Equity of Access to Higher Education, and were on track to improve access, participation and success in higher education by members of the Traveller community.

A progress review of the NAP was launched in December 2018 and the review showed that while increases are evident in participation in Irish Travellers in the NAP, there remains a significant challenge in achieving the target in respect of the Traveller target group. At the review stage, the number of Irish Travellers accessing higher education had increased from 35 (2012/2013) to 61 (2017/2018); a 74% increase since the commencement of this NAP.

In 2020, the HEA carried out a review of Irish Travellers in higher education, which set out and reviewed existing datasets. At an early stage in the review of data, it became evident that there have been some anomalies in the collection of Traveller data in higher education. Following this review it is now clear that the number of Irish Travellers participating in higher education has actually increased from 78 (2012/2013) to 110 (2019/2020). Of these figures 26 were new entrants in 2012/2013 and this increased to 48 new entrants in 2019/2020. This new data will set the new baseline for Traveller entrants and Travellers enrolments in higher education and will be used as the basis for target setting in the next National Access Plan that currently being developed for the period 2022 to 2026.

The progress review highlighted the need for a greater focus for this underrepresented group while acknowledging the expectation that numerous initiatives under the strands of Programme for Access to Higher Education funding aimed at increasing Traveller participation will assist in the realisation of the target and enhance understanding of the barriers that exist in respect of access to higher education by Traveller students. In response, an Action Plan for Traveller Participation in Higher Education 2019 to 2021 was published in 2019, which sets out the clear objectives with associated actions for which the Department will deliver or co-ordinate delivery to achieve our ambitious NAP targets.

This Action Plan aligns with Goal 2 of the Department’s strategy to improve the progress of learners at risk of educational disadvantage or learners with special educational needs.

Work on the development of the next National Access Plan (NAP) 2022 to 2026 is currently underway. The intention is to publish the new NAP in early 2022.