Just 1% of Traveller children go on to higher education

Just 1 per cent of Traveller children progress to third-level education compared with more than half of the wider community, latest figures show.The finding is contained in a review of the Government’s plan to boost numbers of marginalised groups in the higher-education system.Overall, the report shows significant progress in increasing participation from people with disabilities and from disadvantaged backgrounds at third level.However, considerable gaps remain, with just 41 Travellers out of a total of about 250,000 people in higher education.The five-year National Plan for Equity of Access to Higher Education (2015-2019) has set a target of raising the number of Travellers at third level to 80 by next year, but concedes it may be difficult to achieve this.