A national strategy to address the underachievement of boys in education is “urgently” needed, a Labour MP has said.
“Too often working class boys start behind and stay behind,” Sam Rushworth, MP for Bishop Auckland said.
Speaking in the Commons, Mr Rushworth said: “What concerns me most is not just the data, but the absence of outrage and lack of urgency.
“It wasn’t always this way. In the 1970s and 80s, it was girls who were lagging behind, and the government rightly took action to improve outcomes for girls – introducing targeted support, challenging curriculum bias, expanding grammar schools for girls and promoting girls access to Stem (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths).
“And these were not small tweaks, they were deliberate strategic interventions, and they worked. Now that the situation is reversed with boys persistently underachieving, where is the strategy?
“I’m not talking about a general strategy to address deprivation or educational disadvantage, but a specific evidence-based deliverable strategy around boys and young men, which addresses the gender based aspects of underachievement.”
During the debate on educational attainment of boys, Mr Rushworth said a “coded message in our current curriculum is that society values academic excellence over development of technical skills”.
He went on to say: “I believe we urgently need a national strategy for boys’ attainment – cross-party, evidence-based and rooted in fairness.
“It should invest in teacher training that recognises gender bias and engages boys more effectively.
“It should embed social emotional learning throughout the curriculum, especially in early years and transition stages, expand vocational and technical pathways, recognising different routes to success, promote leadership opportunities for boys in school life, and, most importantly, ensure transparent gender disaggregated data to hold ourselves accountable nationally and locally.”
He added: “I don’t want boys in Bishop Auckland or in Bootle, Barry or Basingstoke to feel like the system has no place for them. I want them to feel seen, supported and believed in, because when we raise the floor for those who are struggling, we lift the whole classroom.”
Labour’s Helen Hayes, chairwoman of the education select committee, said there is “a need for a strategic approach to this”, but it is a “complex” area.
She told MPs: “We know that white British boys, black Caribbean boys, and mixed white and black Caribbean boys eligible for free school meals, have particularly low levels of attainment, as do those from Gypsy-Roma or travellers of Irish heritage.”
“Men still earn more on average, with the gender pay gap growing over time, so this is an area of policy that requires complex and nuanced consideration,” she added.
Education minister Catherine McKinnell said: “We know that on average boys have lower attainment than girls, and as a Government we are determined to understand and address the drivers behind this, because all children should have the opportunity to achieve and thrive in their education.”
She added that a Schools White Paper will be published in the autumn and the Government is working alongside Sir Hamid Patel and Estelle Morris on an inquiry into the “barriers to attainment for white working-class children”.
