Last Friday, the Pavee Point Education Team delivered an anti-racism and cultural awareness session for New Community Link Workers, with additional attendance from management within the Tusla Education Support Service (TESS), representatives from the Department of Education, and School Completion Officers.
The Community Link Worker role is a key action under the Traveller and Roma Education Strategy (TRES) and the National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy (NTRIS II), designed to strengthen engagement between schools, families, and communities and to support better educational outcomes for Traveller and Roma children and young people.
The session focused on:
— Understanding racism as a structural and institutional issue
— Exploring the lived experiences of Traveller and Roma families
— Strengthening equality, and human-rights, based practice
— Challenging discriminatory barriers in education
It was encouraging to see such strong engagement and commitment to reflective practice across services. These conversations are essential to building more inclusive and equitable education systems.
Many thanks to everyone who took part.