ACERT

The Good Practice guide for improving outcomes for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children in education outlines three years of research, case studies, and good practice, as compiled by the Traveller Movement education and advocacy team. 

As well as providing an overview of the presenting issues, the report profiles good practice in schools and outlines what good schools are doing to encourage Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (GRT) pupils to remain and to thrive in education.

On the evening of May 16, 1944, in the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, SS guards armed with machine guns surrounded the area of the camp designated for Roma and Sinti prisoners. Their intent was to round up the nearly 6,000 prisoners there and send them to the gas chambers. But when the guards approached the area, they were met with armed resistance from the inmates.

During this independently organised conference we will pay tribute to the Romani heroes, while drawing attention to the gap between policy and reality. Our purpose is to establish a 10 point straightforward Action Plan for the Government to improve the circumstances of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities in all areas of life. This is an interactive event, providing the opportunity to engage in critical discussions surrounding Gypsy, Roma and Traveller matters and press for practical steps to be
implemented in order to tackle current obstacles.

The panel will comprise of distinguished members working in the field. The event will take place:

 Thursday 16th May 2019  6- 8 PM
Palace of Westminster
Committee Room 12
This is a free event and if you wish to attend, please email:
Brigitta.Balogh@city.ac.uk

Lisa Smith, ACERT chair, said:

There are a number of clear recommendations which the women and equalities committee have made that have the potential to address inequalities in education faced by young Gypsies, Roma and Travellers.  We hope that this report will encourage action, we will be watching closely over the next two months as we await the government’s response to the enquiry.

In the field of education The Woman and Equalities Committee is recommending to the Government that:

• the Department for Education should carry out a complete audit of all local authorities to ensure that they have robust policies and procedures on children potentially missing from education, as required by section 436A of the Education Act 2006 and the Government’s own “Children Missing Education Guidance”.
• any local authorities that are found to have inadequate processes should be required to remedy them within six months of the audit.
• the audit should also inspect the procedures that authorities have in place for ensuring that home educated children are receiving a “suitable” education, including effective mechanisms for taking action under section 437 of the Education Act.
• the Government should consider piloting a pupil passport scheme with rapid evaluation to ensure that, should it be successful, it can be rolled out as quickly as possible.
• at the same time, the Department for Education should explore how such a scheme could be implemented across England and what the budgetary implications would be. Such a scheme would ensure that when children move schools or move into home education, their records and history travel with them.
• schools should, as part of their responsibilities under the Public Sector Equality Duty, be challenging race and gender stereotypes wherever they encounter them.
• Ofsted should ensure that inspectors are actively inspecting schools for gender and racial stereotyping or signs of sexism or racism from either pupils or staff.
• schools have a duty to proactively plan for how they will have conversations with Gypsy, Roma and Traveller parents about what relationship and sex education involves and what parents’ options are for their children, short of removing them from school. These plans should be explicit and Ofsted should take them into account during inspections and assess schools accordingly.
• there are multiple organisations in other fields that provide role models to speak and work with schools to foster good relations between groups.
• the Government should increase the capacity of these organisation to provide similar support for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller role models.