Engaging Roma, Gypsy, and Traveller Parents in Children's Education: A UK Overview

1. British Council CourseAccess, Attendance, Achievement: Involving Roma/Gypsy and Traveller Parents in their Children’s Education HELLO AND WELCOME

2. A National Overview in the UK • Contents: • What we have done since 1972 • Success Story – Significant Progress • Audit: A more honest picture • Factors aiding policy development • Factors as barriers to change • The bigger picture • The future • Thanks

3. What we have done since 1972 • Voluntary NGO activity and advocacy • Growing inclusivity of different groups • Conflict over policy direction • Slow action by Local Education Authorities • Development of Roma/Gypsy/Traveller Education Services (TES) • Training • Active involvement of Central Government since 1985

4. Success Story-Significant Progress? • From NGO to government responsibility • Specific projects to Mainstreaming • National structure of Traveller Education Services • Increasing success year by year with access, regular attendance, and rising levels of achievement • Innovation in policy, provision and practice • A place on most educational agendas

5. Audit: A more honest picture • Lack of data and coordinated action • Access to schools, education, curriculum • Attendance • Nomadic and housed • Educational books and teaching resources • Achievement

6. Ethnic group achievementGCSE 5 at grades A*-C

7. Achievement Data2003 GCSE Cohort: Proportion Achieving 5+ A*-C grades

8. 2003 GCSE Cohort: Proportion Achieving 5+ A*-C GCSE/Grades for Pupils with PLASC record, by FSM

9. Impact of deprivation/poverty

10. Relative performance by ethnic groups at all ages

11. Factors as barriers to change • Centuries of abuse and exclusion as the context • Endemic ignorance and racism in the society at large • Avoiding political problems by marginalisation by all • Lack of awareness and indifference to injustice • Poor and inadequate training at all levels • Lack of specific reference in policy/practice • Lack of national and local data and coordination • Silence of power voices which could bring rapid change • Racism under cover of PC professionalism • Parents accused of a lack of interest • The impact of a negative mass media

12. Factors aiding policy development • Active political NGO/voluntary sector • Influence of Her Majesty’s Inspectors (outside politics) • Making policy responsibility stick – threat of legal action • Anti-discrimination/social inclusion laws • National commitment to race equality • Coordinated and comprehensive actions • Professional awareness and commitment to anti racism • Agenda inclusion and data collection • Sound research • Parent power and political action • Impatience and winning hearts and minds

13. The Bigger picture • Roma/Gypsies Travellers now pan-Europe • Explicit international concern (EU/Cof E/UN/OSI/OSCE/World Bank) • Seen now as a Human Rights issue • Major European issue for next 20 years • Increasing Roma community awareness worldwide • The vision of enrichment not yet secure

14. The Future • The Roma decade (2005 – 2015) • Data picture will drive policy development • Robust anti-discrimination will drive policy • Desegregation of Roma schooling • A bigger part played by Roma/Gypsies and Travellers in education at all levels • A changed Europe- faced with its own racist self- equipped to embrace gobalism

15. End Thank you for listening Have a good few days