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Scottish Traveller Education Programme
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Resources: Reports, Policy and Legislation: Children Missing from Education (Scotland)back to main reports, policy and legislation page Children Missing from Education (Scotland)All educational legislation applies to all children and young people in Scotland – this includes Travellers. The Scottish Government’s CME initiative aims to keep children and young people ‘safe and well’ and ‘in education’. The CME (S) guidelines recommend that "when a child is missing, the local authority carries out a search across their area prior to a referral to CME (Scotland) who will then co-ordinate searches across Scotland (and beyond where appropriate)". The website suggests that "children who are missing from education are recognised as being vulnerable and in need of support" by local authorities. Every local authority in Scotland has a CME officer and a School to School officer whose contact details can be found on the ScotXed website. When a Traveller family is mobile and there is a child of school age who you feel may be missing from school education and without any arrangement for their support and learning, sensitivity is required so that families are not chased inappropriately. This is particularly important in situations where some of the family attend school, e.g. primary, and the young person not attending is of secondary age. The complexities of overlapping legislation require that each case be addressed on a case-by-case basis. Linked to More Choices More Chances, which aims to ensure that every young person has a clear pathway from school into learning post-16; with supported transitions and sustained opportunities, these two initiatives have relevance for secondary-aged young people from all Travelller communities. |
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| STEP: Scottish Traveller Education Programme tel: 0131 651
6444; fax: 0131 651 6511
page updated 24 September 2009 |