Improving the Lives of Scotland's Gypsy/ Travellers 2: action plan 2024-2026 - easy read

2. Education

What communities told us:

• introduce children and young people to the Gypsy/Traveller way of life in a positive way

Communities feel that Government policies and plans do not recognise or celebrate Gypsy/Traveller communities.

• need for action on prejudice and discrimination in schools

Prejudice means being judged in a negative way.

Many children and young people from Gypsy/Traveller communities do not go to school because of:

• experiencing prejudice and discrimination
• experiencing racist and offensive language and violence from pupils

• education staff making judgements about:
  • their lifestyle
  • how they will behave
  • what they will achieve at school

Many people felt that school staff did not deal with this properly.

Teachers do not know enough about the culture.

• have more flexible education and training opportunities for secondary age young people

Flexible means it can change to suit what the young person needs.

Many parents did not send their children to secondary school because:

• they do not know or understand enough about schools and staff
• it has always been that way
• they do not agree with what is taught
• they have worries about:
  • children mixing with other children and genders
  • teaching about health, sex, alcohol and drugs

Objective 8

Develop actions to make sure there is a national response to the community’s worries about education.

Objective 9

Support staff to have better school results for Gypsy/Traveller children and young people.

Objective 10

Support community members and educators to work together to raise awareness of Gypsy/Traveller culture and build local relationships and trust.

Objective 11

Support schools to communicate with Gypsy/Traveller parents to make sure they can get information and support at all stages of their children’s education.

Objective 12

Make sure that community members can get support to develop:

• literacy skills – reading and writing
• digital skills – using equipment that uses the internet, like computers or smart phones