Closing the gender education gap is an issue of fairness and equality.
Karl McCartney, MP
In leading a Parliamentary debate on the gender education gap this week, I called on the Government and the education sector to give the same level of focus, leadership and action as it has done on equality issues affecting women and girls, such as the gender pay gap and female representation on company boards.
My view is that closing this gap, which started thirty years ago, is a One Nation, fairness and equality issue. Continuing to fail to address it means a continued negative effect on boys, their families, communities, business and the whole country.
The existence of the gender education gap can be seen throughout education and its impact can be seen by fewer boys than girls taking up apprenticeships, university places and more becoming NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training).
The education sector has to ensure they are boy-friendly in how they teach and ensure they have a better understanding of what makes boys tick. There is a need for male teachers, long-term apprenticeships and more support for parents from low incomes.
Governments of all colours have not done enough to acknowledge this issue let alone tackle it and the education sector itself has done little. The time is now for concrete action, not more words. We need the Government to create an Implementation Taskforce to find solutions and put them into action.
Karl is the Member of Parliament for the City of Lincoln, a member of the 1922 Executive and the Transport Select Committee.
Education is an important gateway to social mobility and a core tool in breaking the poverty cycle.
Through several major reports the Centre for Social Justice has made the case for changes to the way our country supports the most disadvantaged children in their school years.
Our Requires Improvement report found that boys, particularly white working class boys are falling further behind than other students and are at risk of becoming an educational underclass.
In Closing the Divide we lay out recommendations to achieve aspirational education for all including improvement to early education, the quality of teaching and schools and increased learning between schools so that the best can help others solve the challenges they face.
We are committed to ensuring all children have access to an education that prepares them for the next steps in life and able to enter meaningful employment.
CSJ Report: Requires Improvement: The causes of educational failure
CSJ Report: Closing the Divide: Tackling educational inequality in England