Hundreds of Roma children are failing to get an education in Ireland because of fears over deportation and inadequate family supports, according to a new report.
The study, Roma Educational Needs in Ireland, identifies the "stress of the asylum process and an inability to plan for the future" as one of the main barriers to participation in education.
Illiteracy, lack of English language skills, traditional gender roles, fears over loss of culture and negative experiences from formal education are cited as other key obstacles.
Roma children interviewed for the report described how they found it difficult to make friends at school, where they were sometimes teased about their ethnicity. "People make it hard. They were slagging me because [I am Roma]," said one 11-year-old boy.
Ion Zatreanu of the Roma Support Group said members of his community were reluctant to enter the education system when they feared "maybe one day immigration will come and take me to the airport".
It is estimated there are up to 3,000 Roma in Ireland, 90 per cent of whom come from Romania.
The report's author, Louise Lesovitich, a researcher with the City of Dublin Vocational Educational Committee, said the Roma were an "invisible" community in Ireland. "They are outside the margins of society", she said.
Calling for designated Roma home-school liaison officers, she added: "there needs to be support not segregation. There must not be Roma-only classes."
Ronnie Fay, director of Pavee Point Travellers Centre, which co-sponsored the report, said less than half of Roma children were registered at post-primary level compared to about 80 per cent of Travellers. The participation rate of both sets of pupils fell sharply in secondary school, she added. Part of this was due to discrimination in the workplace, which she said acted as a disincentive for Travellers and Roma hoping to complete their education.
Launching the report in Dublin yesterday, Minister of State for Education Síle de Valera said she had set up a steering committee in her department to identify the educational needs of newcomers to Ireland.
She added the Roma had experienced a long history of discrimination, and Ireland wished to eradicate this approach.
