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FUNDING IS TO be rolled out to help close the gap in higher education for Traveller and Roma students.
The announcement comes today from Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science Simon Harris TD. The said that €450,000 in funding will be used specifically to assist Travellers and Roma students in higher education.
Some of the money will be used for bursaries for students.
The investment was secured through the Dormant Accounts Funds to ensure that COVID-19 did not widen the already significant gap in higher education between Travellers and the wider population, his department said.
Speaking today, Minister Harris said: “Participation by Travellers in higher education remains at an alarming low level and recent data shows just 61 Travellers in higher education. Only 1% of Travellers have a third level education.”
We have a significant way to go to improving participation rates among the Traveller and Roma community but it will also offer additional supports to people already in Higher Education.
He added that there is a “real risk that the small increases we have seen in recent years could be lost as a result of COVID-19″, and this is something his Department is determined to mitigate against.
“This funding marks a 50% increase in the funding secured in 2021,” he said. “It will have transformative long-term benefits for the Traveller and Roma communities and allow third level institutions broaden their reach people in these marginalised communities.”
The key objectives of the fund will be:
Dr Alan Wall, Chief Executive of the HEA, said that the HEA welcomed the news. He said that the impact of COVID-19 “continues to exacerbate the challenges faced by Traveller and Roma students when accessing, and participating in, higher education”.
The continuation of this Fund, and its expansion to include Roma students, is an important intervention that will help achieve a more ethnically diverse student body.
The funding measure is in addition to those already in place to support the Action Plan for Increasing Traveller participation in Higher Education 2019-2021.
The funding will enable the building of an interagency community approach led by higher education institutions, in collaboration with local Traveller and Roma organisations. Harris’s department said it “will have transformative long-term benefits for the Traveller and Roma communities”.
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Publish reports with names of food Business , simple.
Food allergies are very serious – they affect 9/10 people who hear about them.
Some of the 14 allergens can cause a life threatening Anaphylactic shock reaction. Other allergens can cause immune system reactions that go unseen by others. Detailing the allergens on menus has been the law for well over a year. This is a very disappointing statistic.
While some make little and joke about ‘fad diets’, the reality is not having an allergen listed can cause an extremely serious reaction. When ordering food in a restaurant, always reiterate your allergens with your server before ordering and hope that the message gets passed on to the kitchen.
Part of the problem is that people confuse food intolerance with true food allergies and anaphylaxis. And now that all the gluten free nonsense has caught on with non coeliacs it really doesn’t help people who suffer with true allergies.
I’ve worked kitchens for over 20 years & the main problem is the customer not telling the chef/server/kitchen of their allergies. No professional kitchen will try send out contaminated food if the customer informs them first. We have too much to lose. Any chef worth their salt will have allergens marked on their menu or an allergen chart available on request. It takes 10 minutes to do. Other then that it’s really about informing the staff before you order.
They should post the results . I can’t remember the last time I didn’t see this information on a menu so would love to see the information .
@Darren Moore: @Darren Moore: I was just at a hotel in Co. Cork and they did not have allergen information. I had to ask three different staff for the information, one telling me it was just fine but when questioned further she actually had no English and did not understand my question. I was also at a Christmas party at a hotel in Cork City and they did not list allergens nor were the staff properly trained. Three of the five courses they brought out had nuts in it after I asked them when ordering and they said there were no nuts. They just did not know, the menu did not list allergens, so fortunately I am responsible enough for my own health that I did not eat something I was allergic to.
We still get details here – usually on the side of the box elsewhere – of what exactly is in our food, and what levels of it? Starch, fibre, sugar, carbon etc.
It is very difficult to get this right. I sympathise with restaurants who have to provide this information. I have developed a severe nut allergy in the last 3 years as an older adult. I have reacted to all different kinds of processed foods that claim to be nut free. I have had issues in multiple restaurants even after extensive discussions with waitstaff and management and I report it every time. Not to blame anyone, but to help improve the service. At the end of the day, it is my risk to go out and eat. If I do not feel safe I will not order or I will go somewhere else. Or, lo and behold, cook my own food! That is what it mostly comes down to, and there is no harm in that.
Wheat intolerance that is!
Happened with my spouse in Rathmines, fortunately heat intolerance is not as serious as a full on nut allergy.
have your say