Who Might Well Have Good Reason to Want to Put Back the Hands of Time
Civitas, 24 November 2009
According to statistics published by the DCSF last week, the group of 11 year olds doing least well at school in England are white boys of British heritage from low-income homes that render them eligible for free school-meals. In 2009, while nearly three quarters of 11 year olds met target levels of attainment in English and maths, a figure which includes over half of ‘Black’ boys eligible for free school meals, fewer than half of their white British counterparts did. Moreover, whereas the attainment level of ‘Black’ boys eligible for free school meals increased, that of their white British counterparts fell.
Such trends have been with us for some time.
In 2006, for example, white working class boys became the least well performing group of schoolchildren in England at GCSE. 2 per cent fewer of them obtained 5 good grades at GCSE than their Black counterparts.
Quite why so many white British boys from poor backgrounds should be doing so much worse at school than other groups of children from similar income groups is less than fully clear. Commenting on this trend last year, Michael Collins, author of The Likes of Us: A Biography of the White Working Class, conjectured by way of explanation:
‘Divorcing today’s young working-class lads from a sense of their own history and belonging has played a large part in their underperformance. When the poor performance of black boys became an issue, experts were quick to point to the causes: a lack of positive role models, racism and history…
‘The poor performance of black boys at school first became an issue in the 1970s. Nobody then mentioned what was happening to the likes of us. I left a comprehensive school with one CSE. Only a handful of my white working-class contemporaries went on to further education. Now, 30 years in, it is depressing to say the least that things have got even worse.’
The present Government remains in denial of the problem. Concerning last week’s published figures showing still further decline among poor white British schoolboys, Schools minister Vernon Coaker was quoted as having said:
‘Let’s face facts – primary school standards have been transformed over the last 12 years with 98,000 more 11 year olds now reaching expected levels in English and mathematics regardless of their backgrounds, No one would want to turn the clock back.’
One wonders whether the Minister was comparing like with like. If over this period the level of attainment in school of white British working class boys has fallen in England, at least relative to those of other groups, then not a few in this group might well be beginning, and have good reason, to want to do so.
One good reason why they might is provided by recent unemployment figures. These suggest that the chickens of educational and immigration policies pursued by the present Government are now beginning to come home to roost in ways that presage badly, not only for it, but also potentially for all who favour good race relations in this country. As has recently been pointed out:
‘In general, black youngsters are twice as likely as their white counterparts to be unemployed, with Asians one-and-a-half times as likely. Yet a closer look at the latest data on claimant numbers reveals something surprising: ethnic minorities are still more likely, overall, to be out of work, but the rise in unemployment among these groups over the past year has been less than for white youngsters. In the year to June 2009, the number of white British 18-24 year olds claiming jobseekers’ allowance rose by almost 90 per cent. For Indians it was 83 per cent, for Bangladeshis 48 per cent, Pakistanis 42 per cent, Africans 41 per cent and Caribbeans 40 per cent. Part of this turnaround is likely explained by young people from ethnic minorities finding it harder to enter the jobs market on leaving school or college and extending their education. (Official statistics show a higher proportion of young, ethnic minorities stay on into further and higher education, even if their GCSEs are less good.) But it may also be a sign of a wider trend. For several years now poorer white pupils have been falling behind their classmates at GCSE. White children on free school meals, commonly used as a measure of deprivation, now do worse in exams than similarly poor pupils from other ethnic groups. So it is also possible that ethnic minorities are finding themselves better prepared, and better qualified, than white applicants for the same jobs.’
If rising unemployment among young British males is attributable to their relatively deteriorating performance at school, at least in comparison with other groups, and their deteriorating performance is the combined result of the present Government’s deliberate encouragement of mass immigration and its focus on celebrating the benefits of ever greater workplace ‘diversity’, then not a few white British might well have cause to want to turn the clock back to a time before New Labour were elected into office.
They will have a chance to make their feelings about this matter known on Election Day, when methinks our starry-eyed Schools Minister might be in for a rude awakening.