When arguably the most famous Traveller in the country, Tommy Fury, told his fiancée he wanted to pull their daughter out of school after 11, she was adamant that wouldn’t happen.

But with bullying and discrimination rife in the classroom, as well as cultural pressures to learn other skills, that is the reality for many young people in the Traveller and Gypsy community in Kent. Davina Jethwa found out more...

Boxer Tommy Fury left formal education after primary school, and wants his children to do the same.

In a now-viral clip of his conversation with fiancée, Love Island star Molly Mae, on their Netflix reality show At Home With The Furys, she admits she has other ideas about how to bring up their unborn child.

In videos all over social media, the then-pregnant influencer, who is not from a Traveller background, says to cameras: “With Tommy obviously being a Traveller, he has had conversations with me about our child not going to school.”

Molly then follows by saying the choice is “absolutely non-optional.”

The show has sparked a conversation about why Traveller and Gypsy children leave school early.

While it is a cultural tradition, community members say wider issues of bullying, insufficient funding, and a rigid curriculum are all reasons why these kids are the lowest attending ethnic group in the UK.

Since 2013, the law has required young people to continue in education, employment, or training until the age of 18 but despite this, in many Roma Gypsy and Traveller communities, this is not the case.

A Kent County Council (KCC) spokesman said: “Children of Traveller groups in settled sites – such as those occupying Kent’s seven sites and the eight in the county operated by district or borough councils – are expected to register at a school and attend as normal.

“They are subject to the same rules as other children in terms of the requirement to attend school regularly once registered at school.”

However, cultural traditions often lead children in this community to leave school after primary.

The spokesman said: “KCC admissions teams provide support to all families to navigate application processes and help them fully understand their options and parental responsibilities.”

However, the county council also acknowledges that a formal education is not always seen as part of the families’ aspirations for their children.

Director of the Gypsy Council, Joe Jones said: “Parents normally pull their children out because of sex educational learning and the lack of practical skills.”

By 11, it is believed that children have learnt the necessities of reading and writing, and must then take on life skills.

Joe said: “The boys need to learn from their peers within the community to survive and learn a trade.”

Meanwhile, girls will learn home-care such as cooking and cleaning.

He said: “I took my children out during the summer because I had to work and put food on the table.

“Over many years it [the work] was mainly harvesting fruit and vegetables on local farms that they attended for hundreds of years, mixing with local people who also did seasonal work - so education took a back seat.”

For this reason, many older generations did not learn to read or write until they were adults.

Joe said: “I personally did not learn to read and write until I was 19 years old and at that time I was married and had my first child – but I have not stopped learning even at the age of 71.”

As times have modernised, young people in the community who do wish to pursue their education further are often held back by the system.

Joe says that female Travellers and Gypsies often seem more into learning than boys, but bullying and discrimination have become a large obstacle in moving forward.

Reflecting on her own experience of starting primary school, Maryann Eastwood, a Roma Traveller from Faversham, said: “I was so excited to go to school and learn.”

Sadly, when she arrived for her first day, her experience quickly turned sour due to bullying.

“People would call me g****, “p****”, and say I was dirty and smelly,” recalled the 44-year-old.

When she started a new school, she thought hiding her identity would help her fit in with her classmates.

Maryann, who grew up in trailers, and has previously spoken about how she feels trapped living in a house, said: “I thought it would be a fresh start and I could hide it.

“There was a girl at school who had horses opposite our land and saw me.

“She said ‘you’re a Gypsy’ and I was begging, ‘please don’t tell anyone’.”

Due to starting school a little later than most children, Maryann said she would sometimes lash out due to her insecurities about being behind her peers.

Recalling when she was asked to stand up and read to the class, she said: ”I said ‘You’re the teacher you should be reading it’, but I was just hiding because I was scared.

“I was anxious but I didn’t know it then, I just felt strange.”

Though her experience of school was more than 30 years ago, these issues in the classroom remain an issue.

Discrimination, language barriers, cultural clashes, and isolation are all contributing factors to the high absence rate of Roma Gypsies and Travellers in education.

In a 2017 Ofsted report it was highlighted ”that nationally Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (GRT) pupils are the lowest achieving group across all Key Stages, with the highest percentage of absences and exclusions.”

These figures are reflected in Kent's own high GRT population and it was noted that improving this should “be one of the top 12 focus areas” for KCC.

Since watching her own children’s experiences at school, Maryann said: “Things have moved forward.”

KCC commissioned service, The Education People has a dedicated Equality Diversity Inclusion Team which offers support to schools.

This can be by developing staff awareness of GRT history and traditions, supporting schools to celebrate the culture, and evaluating links between identity and under-performance.

The team also aims to share resources that can be incorporated into a GRT-inclusive curriculum and encourages teachers and pupils to challenge racism and discrimination.

However, Kent Education Learning and Skills Information (KELSI) says “the gap is still unacceptable and significantly high.”

Maryann believes making the curriculum more practical and including more history of GRT culture would be a starting point for improvement.

“There are so many different ways to learn and schools only teach one,” she said.

In an attempt to bridge a gap between Gypsy and Traveller children and education, KCC will be supporting a free event by The Traveller Movement charity at County Hall in Maidstone on Thursday, September 28.

Called Reaching Out, it will take place from 10.15am to 4pm and will bring education leaders, youth services, and agencies together with the GRT community.

The aim of the event will be “to help shape appropriate and meaningful pathways into employment, education, and training for young people from the communities.”