Professor Robbie Gilligan discusses a “policy blind spot” in Ireland resulting from a lack of data collection on the education of children in the care system, including the percentage of those children who go on to university. Ireland recently launched a new National Plan for Equity of Access to Higher Education 2015-2019 to improve access to education for disadvantaged groups, but the new plan is silent on the educational needs for children in care. Over 6,000 children live in the care of the Irish state on any given day, with some of those children staying for a short period during a family difficulty, while others grow up in the care system.
Professor Gilligan notes that in many other countries such as England, Scotland, and Australia, data is regularly published on the education of children in care. The United States just recently signed into law the Every Student Succeeds Act, which includes a new requirement that every state must track educational progress for all children in public care.