The Minister for Further and Higher Education has set a target of a fourfold increase in Traveller participation in higher education.
Minister Harris today announced a plan involving 100 million euros in funding to drive equality in accessing higher education.
The fourth National Access Plan covers the period of 2022-2029 and names three specific priority groups; students who are socio-economically disadvantaged, students who are members of Irish Traveller and Roma communities, and students with disabilities including intellectual disabilities.
For new entrants from socioeconomically disadvantaged areas, the plan sets a target to increase transition rate between school and higher education from 42% to 54%.
It also wants to increase the percentage of mature new entrants from disadvantaged areas from 11% to 22%.
The department also set a target percentage of new entrants with a disability of 16%, up from the current rate of 12.4%.
The current number of new entrants from the Traveller community is 33, while the plan sets a target of 150.
