§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will take steps to ensure Travellers have equal access to training as education and youth workers. [165856]
§ Mr. GardinerAccess to courses of training for education or youth workers is open to all students who meet the requirements for entry to the respective courses. The arrangements for remission of tuition fees apply equally to students from the Traveller community as they do to students from other low income families. Students in higher education who satisfy residency requirements and whose family incomes are less than £20,970 do not pay anything towards their tuition fees. Likewise, Traveller students have the same access to student loans as other students. Where family income is under £20,000, they are eligible to receive non-refundable bursaries of up to £2,000 thereby reducing the amount of student loan they need to borrow. Supplementary grants such as Disabled Students' Allowance and childcare grants are also available.