Description:Education was a continual problem for travelling communities since access to it was often difficult. Travelling caused schooling to be disrupted as children would spend a few months in school and would then leave as their families moved along their route to another place. Many official sites were located in areas far from easy access to school and the wider community which also added to the problem. Furthermore the formal education system did not provide travellers with the knowledge to pursue their lifestyle: in traveller culture the knowledge that was valued often took the form of skills that were passed on by parents to their children (O'Donovan, 1986.) As their way of life changed, more parents began to appreciate the need for literacy and numeracy in dealing with bureaucracy and gaining employment.
The traditional form of schooling was not suitable for traveller children. Not only did the curriculum reflect conventions that they were unaccustomed to but children faced prejudice at school from pupils and teachers alike. A woman from Blairgowrie interviewed for 'The Travelling People' in 1963 remembered how she was subjected to teasing and ostracism on account of her ethnicity:
"And the worst in that school was the headmaster's own son- I never got anything but "Tinkietinkietinkietinkie"- "Dinnae play wi' her, she's a tinkie," That went on all the time….they wouldna sit beside me in the seat. 'O, I'm no' goin' to sit beside her, she's a tinkie. The teachers got to be the same. They would put the bairns to another seat and I would hae to sit by mysel'…." (CPA 2/97/1/2/2 p. 2.)
Another Blairgowrie traveller described how her brother's education suffered as he spent seven years in the same class cleaning blackboards, relaying messages and sweeping the floor for the teacher instead of learning how to read and write (CPA 2/971/2/2 p.8.)
The inadequacy of the provision of traveller education was highlighted in 1967 with the publication of the Plowden Report which stated that 'gypsy children' were "probably the most deprived group in the country." The first schemes to deal with the issue of traveller education were voluntary and included West Midlands Travellers School. The school was an educational charity school which was set up in 1970 by local people, including many teachers, who wanted to help travellers in a practical way. For most of the children who attended the school it was the only school they had ever attended and they were taught how to use pencils and other tools so they could learn to read and write at a later stage (MS 2478/B/1/2 Grapevine issue 39 May 1974.)
In 1975 the region's local authorities began provisions for the education of traveller children and the West Midlands Education Service for Travelling children was born.
Above is a flier from 1973 for the annual summer school organised by West Midlands Travellers School.
Author: Sarah Dar