Pavee Point has called for college scholarships and for earlier interventions in second level to keep Traveller children in school.
They were among several suggestions made at a national seminar in Cork yesterday to break down the barriers Irish Travellers face while progressing to higher education.
Hilary Harmon, Pavee Point’s education co-ordinator, said there are just over 36,000 Travellers living in Ireland today — with almost 74% living in a house and 42% under the age of 15. However, just 13% of Traveller children complete second-level education, compared to 92% in the settled community.
Of those who drop out of second level, Ms Harmon said 55% have left by the age of 15, and the number of Traveller children who progress to third level represents just 1% of their community writes Eoin English