Educational Outcomes: Disadvantaged Boys and Young Men
Debate between Alistair Strathern and Chris Bloore(3 days, 14 hours ago)
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Alistair Strathern
The hon. Member is spot on in drawing attention to the fact that a lot of these problems have early roots, and that our interventions must be as focused as the challenges that we are seeking to address.
Boys’ Impact found that when looking at early years settings, only 30% of boys on average seem to be making a good level of progress, compared with 88% of girls who are not eligible for free school meals. When it came to GCSEs and getting grades 5 to 9 in English and maths, Boys’ Impact found that men, particularly from disadvantaged backgrounds and eligible for free school meals, were achieving half the level of those who were not eligible for free school meals.
Chris Bloore (Redditch) (Lab)
Redditch was a town built on unionised workers, needle making, aerospace and engineering, and that heritage matters. Too many boys now leaving schools in my area leave without a clear vocational route into decent jobs. Does my hon. Friend believe that the industrial and skills strategies should be place based, with apprenticeships funding, employer-college partnerships and union involvement, so that education in towns such as Redditch can lead directly to rewarding jobs?
Alistair Strathern
I completely agree. I know that my hon. Friend is a big champion of some of these issues, for the benefit of Redditch and well beyond. Some of the important steps that he has highlighted are fundamental to tackling some of the challenges that we are looking to address here today.
It is clear that there is a case for action, but what should we be doing? It is regrettable that although the Education Committee intended to set up an inquiry into this issue in the last Parliament, that has yet to be picked back up in this Parliament. I think a renewed focus by the Select Committee on this topic would be especially welcome, particularly if it explored where the compounding impact of socioeconomic factors, along with gender, is further holding back young men and boys across education. But we should not need to wait for any such inquiry to act. Given the wealth of evidence that we have been talking about today and that other Members have thought to highlight, it is important that the Government set out their own plan and strategy to treat this priority with the urgency that it deserves.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Alistair Strathern and Chris Bloore(1 year, 2 months ago)
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Alistair Strathern (Hitchin) (Lab)
Chris Bloore (Redditch) (Lab)