Boys are falling behind at school — could mentors be the answer?

Times

3 days ago

Boys need mentors including workmen and Scout leaders to boost their attainment, a new think tank has suggested.
In a parliamentary debate on boys' education on Thursday, it will call for a minister for boys as well as a new strategy to tackle the problem.
Boys do worse than girls at almost every subject and level at school and this is too readily accepted, according to the Centre for Policy Research on Men and Boys.
• Classroom crisis: number of male secondary teachers at record low
A briefing sent to MPs before the debate, which will be led by Sam Rushworth, Labour MP for Bishop Auckland, says that boys' underperformance at school is ignored and there should be a campaign to boost results.
Girls achieve on average higher grades than boys in primary school tests, GCSEs, A-levels and first-class degrees, although slightly more boys attain A*s, the top grade at A-level.
The think tank's trustees include Professor Sir Michael Marmot, professor of epidemiology at University College London; Professor Roger Kirby, former president of the Royal Society of Medicine; and Dr Anna Machin, an anthropologist who has written books on fatherhood.
The organisation wants a full research programme on the reasons for boys' and young men's relative underperformance, a strategy and plan to address this and for the government and local authorities to work with civic organisations such as the Scouts and cadets to increase boys' membership.
It said: 'There should be a nationwide campaign and strategic project to encourage and increase the number of male mentors available to young men and boys whether through schools, including more male teachers … or [with] relatable leaders such as tradespeople or community leaders.'
Previously the government ran the campaign This Girl Can to get more girls into sport, and the think tank called for a similar initiative for boys, which could give them careers advice, including routes into under-represented careers for men such as health and social care and education.
The briefing says: 'Policymakers including governments at all levels should talk up young men and boys to give them confidence. There should be a ministerial role with explicit responsibility for improving boys' educational attainment.
'The level of under-attainment and disengagement is impacting on the economy and wider society and will impact on the government's plans for a national employment rate of 80 per cent.'
Mark Brooks, director of policy at the think tank, said that it was important to raise the profile of the 'politically under-recognised issue'.
He added: 'Boys are behind girls at every stage of education and it seems to have been accepted as normal with little in the way of research and solutions. We would like to see a full strategy to find out the causes with a plan to boost boys' results. This can be included in the government's schools white paper, due in the autumn.'
Brooks also called for a campaign to give boys confidence and skills in finding jobs and careers, plus a national scheme for increasing male mentors, particularly those without male role models in the home.
Teachers and head teachers have urged the government to fund September's pay rise fully.
In May, the government accepted the recommendations of the School Teachers' Review Body to raise the salaries of teachers and school leaders in England by 4 per cent from September.
Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, said schools would have to find about 1 per cent of the pay awards themselves 'through improved productivity and smarter spending'.
In a joint response to Phillipson, four education unions have set out their 'united view' on the need for the government to provide additional investment to fully fund the pay increase for the next academic year.
The National Education Union, the National Association of Head Teachers, the Association of School and College Leaders and Community said: 'Investing in the improvements needed to teacher and school leader pay and conditions is vital to tackling the recruitment and retention crisis.'
They warned against creating a 'false trade-off' between teacher pay and reductions in support for pupils.