Pavee Point Traveller & Roma Centre welcomes today’s announcement by Further and Higher Education Minister, Simon Harris TD that ‘SUSI grants for fees’ will be extended to part-time students.

“This is something we have been advocating on for a while,” said Pavee Point Education Worker, Tracey Reilly, “More supports for part-time students will enable more Travellers to avail of Further and Higher Education.  Part-time education is more realistic for Travellers with family responsibilities or in part-time employment.”

“However, this extension of the SUSI grant needs to be further extended to include maintenance and not just fees”, added Ms. Reilly.

Fewer than 1% of Travellers go on to Further and Higher Education.  Recent measures including access outreach, more financial supports and better Traveller inclusion at universities and colleges is having a positive impact. “The fact that there are targets in the National Access Plan to have 150 Travellers in Higher Education is very important and helps drive these positive moves,” said Ms Reilly.

“However, we also advocate that as a special temporary measure to help bridge the gap in education, all Travellers getting places in Higher Education Institutions should be allocated full SUSI grants for an immediate period of at least five years,” added Ms. Reilly.