Failures in education system 'letting down poorest boys'

Failures in England's education system are fuelling crime and letting down the country's poorest boys, research suggests today.

Boys are being betrayed by schools that fail to teach them to read, write and add up, instil discipline and to recognise those falling behind, according to a study by the Centre for Policy Studies think tank.

Almost two thirds (63%) of 14-year-old white working class boys and more than half (54%) of 14-year-old black Caribbean boys have a reading age of seven, the report said.

The study suggests a shift in teaching styles in the last 30 years, with the focus now on "child centred" learning, rather than rote learning, with pupils sitting in rows facing the teacher, is partly to blame.

This does not benefit boys, who need discipline and help from their teachers.

And many schemes designed to boost standards in literacy have failed to be effective for boys from more deprived backgrounds, who end up unable to read properly, it suggests.

The study, based on interviews with teenagers who have been "let down" by the system, as well as parents and teachers, found they began to misbehave when they were seven or eight, by which time they should have learnt to read.

"Without literacy their lives are finished before they start," the study, called Wasted: The betrayal of white working class and black Caribbean boys, said.

"Ahead stretches years of boredom, shame and failure.

"A lack of literacy drives angry and resentful boys out of school and into trouble."

The study warns exams are "too often about making ministers look good at the expense of the education of the child."

Often Sats tests, taken by students at the end of primary school, do not reflect a pupil's ability and leads to the child being overlooked.

Harriet Sergeant, who led the research, said in her report: "The failure of primaries to teach and Ofsted to check comes home to roost in secondary school.

"By 14, most of the teenage boys I interviewed had been excluded, were playing truant or, when they did show up, could barely be controlled."

The study warns "illiteracy is a powerful factor in bad behaviour and truancy".

Boys with low literacy levels become "frustrated" in the classroom and this ultimately leads to a "discipline crisis" in schools.

The study concludes: "There are a small minority of young men who are never going to fit easily into society.

"But the tragedy is that we are turning large numbers of potentially decent young men into misfits and criminals.

"Boys from poor backgrounds do not have the option of going to private school or using tutors.

"Our state school system is failing those most reliant on it on a massive scale and at every level.

"It is failing to teach them the basics, to read and write and do simple arithmetic."

Ms Sergeant said: "It is time to challenge this deep-seated culture in our schools. Proposals for giving parents more freedom to set up schools, for imposing synthetic phonics, for enhancing the professionalism of teachers are all wise and greatly needed.

"But if change is to be lasting, something more dramatic is in order: namely, a recognition of the source of the crisis and an end to the educational ideology that has damaged schools and betrayed millions of children."