To think amount of Roma and Traveller children withdrawn from school underage needs to be cracked down on?

[Jane379]

Two things have made me think about this.

One was the recent thread on Venezuela Fury, Tyson's daughter. Her situation appears slightly different as apparently she did receive tuition online but it made me look into the wider situation.

I know there has been improvement, and that many Roma & travellers families don't do this. But it shouldn't be allowed in the first place. Yes, some who do may homeschool their kids properly, but how many?

There needs to be more regulation of homeschooling.

Why do Roma & traveller kids often slip through the net? Is it sometimes linked to families moving around so children move from one LA to another?

There' nothing wrong with kids preferring to pursue technical options than academic, or living the travelling lifestyle. But school would give them a chance to choose.

And, again: anecdote vs data. Whatever you've seen, statistically, travellers are more likely to live in poverty. Though, if they own businesses, why shouldn't they "display" their wealth by buying fancy cars and fancy clothes, if that's what they want to do?

And - I'm repeating myself again here - insufficient/ inadequate/ non-existent utilities means sometimes there is an excuse. And plenty of people leave rubbish behind. And, since travellers apparently pay no tax, I could imagine they'd get bother for using the tip too. Sometimes you just can't win, so why bother trying?

I think it’s the ostentatious, vulgar display of wealth that annoys some people, and the fact they seem to get away with stuff . I appreciate they’re not all wealthy.
One funeral I saw was a good send off- The mum’s coffin was on an open backed truck. Pints of beer were placed on the coffin, and the family were sitting round it singing, as it was slowly paraded around town!

OK, as you wish. Sorry this discussion has headed this way. I am genuinely very interested.

Genuine interest is always welcome. But coming from a position of "persuade me this culture is as valid as mine, because so far I think it's just about taking girls out of school and teaching them to clean caravans" doesn't sound like genuine interest.

Ah ok. Vulgar displays of wealth. So it's partly a taste thing. Yeah, fair enough, we're all allowed to have tastes/ distastes. I personally loathe range rovers, and (whispered confession) make probably ludicrous assumptions about people who own them 😂

Can't tell your tone from the bit about the funeral, but that send off sounds gorgeous to me!

I always thought home schooling was brought in so that travelers were not breaking the law by taking their kids out of school

I'm a police officer and was once at a traveller camp. There was a really young girl cleaning The caravan kitchen and I said something like 'Oh hello lovely! Shouldn't you be in school?' and she turned to me all sassy and said 'Urrr.... I'm EIGHT??' 😞

The fact this happens in the uk in 2026 is extremely sad.

I agree about the send off, joyous and lovely way to go!

I doubt that's true.
In England home schooling has always been allowed since education was made compulsory through the 1870 (?) Education Act.
In the past many upper class girls were taught at home with a governess and never attending an actual school.
Queen Elizabeth II (and presumably her sister Princess Margaret) never attended school.
They were "home schooled" in modern terms.

They had a superior education. How many parents are equipped to teach their children properly? It’s not a case of sticking coursework in front of them. I had a decent education but no way would I have attempted this with my own children. That’s why there needs to be new rules set. Parents should have to prove they are capable of teaching and financially able to supply everything. Proper checks and standards should be in place. It’s going to be difficult educating travellers’ children if they’re moving around a lot, but something needs to be set up.

@RapunzelHadExtensions @Newsenmum giving you the benefit of the doubt, and assuming that you genuinely care about the welfare and education of traveller girls, I'd suggest you look again at @Floattheboats post.

Talking about "the menfolk" withholding education to "keep their families in their place" is a dreadful way to describe what happens.

Traveller men, like all men aside from the psychos, want the best for their families. You might disagree with them about what "best" looks like, which is fine. But suggesting that they just want to control and abuse their wives and kids is not fine. It compounds the sense of hostility from and to non travellers which I think has been a problem throughout this whole thread.

If you want to reach traveller women and children, you can't disparage the men they love. Especially when it's often those men who are trying to protect them from the worst abuses they risk in mainstream society.

@Allseeingallknowing I was just replying to someone's idea of home schooling was "bought in for travellers".
It certainly wasn't.
Actually many upper class girls who were taught at home barely received an education.
They were taught the basics plus nice skills like embroidery, piano playing and flower arranging and then when old enough how to be a good wife.

Those were the days!

Autocorrect sorry, but a lot of people say they are fascinated so Im happy to answer sensible questions

I've seen a lot of primary school children withdrawn before secondary and I highly doubt they are receiving any education. Often, the parents can't read either. I've been told by younger siblings about older sisters crying with boredom, spending all day every day cleaning the caravans and doing domestic chores from the age of 11. Having said that, I think that there's a massive lack of trust between traveller families and "the establishment" (for good reason!) and forcing this issue would only deepen that. It's a hard one to solve.

Oh I totally agree, I'm sorry if my post didn't come across the right way.
I think it was the way she said 'I' m EIGHT??' like it was obvious why she wasn't in school that surprised me.
Not making a wider point about the traveller community as a whole, again apologies if it came across that way.

This will only work if LA's actually do their jobs too though. I've already brought it up on this thread but some parents are forced to home educate because their child is SEND and the LA fail to provide a suitable school place for them.

You're going to get some families saying ''No, I'm not capable of teaching my child and financially, it is killing me but you didn't give my SEND child a suitable school place so what am I supposed to do?''.

But lots of women, of all cultures and backgrounds, believe that being a homemaker/SAHM is ultimately more valuable than going out to earn?
So is there a difference?

Yeah but you dont do it the second you reach puberty and miss out an entire education.

Can I ask something? I understand sex before marriage is frowned upon, but if they have no idea of the mechanics etc how do they know it’s wrong?

They’re still primarily traveller families. I’ll be honest. The violence and disruptive behaviour in the school and the surrounding area was hard for locals to deal with. A disagreement would be solved with fists.

We can be politically correct as we like but it’s not ‘nimby’ to want your child to be safe at school. I have traveller friends, but they acknowledge that problems are solved in a very different way.