Yesterday (5 March), Rt Hon Sir David Evennett, MP for Bexleyheath and Crayford, participated in a Westminster Hall debate on the educational attainment of boys. The debate was secured by the Member of Parliament for Don Valley, Nick Fletcher MP.
Mr Fletcher highlighted the excellent work the Conservative Government has done to improve the overall standards of education, with 88% of schools being Good or Outstanding by Ofsted. However, despite this, boys are not still doing as well at school as they should be and are underperforming in comparison to girls.
Sir David was among the MPs speaking in the debate. He has similar issues in Parliament previously and used his speech to raise concerns about the attainment gap between boys and girls and expressed his concern at the fact white working class boys in particular are falling further behind. Sir David concluded with:
“We need more publicity from the Government, academies and businesses and more investment in boys at an earlier age, particularly white working-class lads. In particular, we must not at any time let boys decry education, become disillusioned and opt out, so we end up with an underclass who are not educated and have not had the opportunity to make something of themselves. Yes, we need qualifications, but it is the basics that they all need—the ability to read and write and to be confident with maths. They will hopefully see what the opportunities are if we bring people into schools who are not educationalists. I know we as politicians go into schools and talk about life at Westminster, but we need more people to go into schools and talk about their careers. If we do not, not just individuals but society will be disadvantaged because there is huge talent out there among young males, including young white males, which needs to be grasped so they can all have a positive future”.
The transcript of the full debate can be read at: https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2024-03-05/debates/9B330447-DF65-42F8-9B2D-388D12684AAD/EducationalAttainmentOfBoys
Rt Hon Sir David Evennett MP 
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