Arthur Ivatts OBE, International Consultant to Governments and International Organisations including the EU, UNESCO, UNICEF, Council of Europe, FRA and the Roma Education Fund

Arthur Ivatts worked initially as a teacher and youth leader. Following a higher degree in anthropology, which focused on the Gypsies/Roma in England, he become involved with the early efforts to secure education for Roma/Gypsy and Traveller children.

After some years working within the voluntary NGO sector concerned with Gypsies/Roma and Travellers, he joined Her Majesty’s Inspectors of Schools (HMI) in England in 1975 and soon became the HMI with national responsible for the education of Gypsy/Roma and Traveller children. He held this post, together with responsibilities for the education of asylum seekers and refugees and inter-cultural education, until 2003 when he decided to do consultancy work for government departments and intergovernmental organisations.

Arthur Ivatts worked on the HMI team which inspected and reported on policy and provision for Traveller children (OFSTED “Provision and support for Traveller pupils HMI 455 November 2003) and asylum seekers (OFSTED “The Education of Asylum Seeker Pupils” HMI 453 October 2003) He has recently been involved in Roma/Gypsy related projects in Bulgaria, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania. Six years ago he worked with a small research team on a report for the European Commission in relation to Roma and EU enlargement “The Situation of Roma in an Enlarged European Union” – EU November 2004). Up until September 2010 was working on a number of priority issues for the UK Department for Education (DfE) concerned with the education of Gypsy/Roma and Traveller children and the education of asylum seekers, refugees and migrants. He has also previously been contracted to the Council of Europe Roma Education Project and completed work for UNESCO on Early Childhood Education re Roma and Traveller children. He is currently involved in work with UNCIEF in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the development of inclusive and intercultural educational policy, provision and practice. Later in the spring of 2011 he will be working for the FCO by leading a series of seminars and workshops in Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia. In 2004 he was awarded an OBE for his services to education.