Welsh Assembly are letting down boys

Wales needs an effective Education Minister

LESS THAN A QUARTER OF THE ASSEMBLY'S TARGETS ARE MET

The National Assembly set itself the target of halving underachievement by boys compared with girls by the year 2002 in all four key stages. There were 21 targets and only four have been met. Helen Mary Jones, Plaid Cymru's shadow cabinet member for education, stated that the failure was because of a lack of an effective strategy and the willingness to fund the change.

In some parts of the UK there have been significant improvements in the education of boys, in some they have outstripped the girls. Before the mad and unreasoned rush into co-education, poor performance by boys did not exist. Also, at that time there was a plentiful supply of male teachers who acted as role models. Now we have the ludicrous situation of women trying to teach boys how to grow up to be men.

The Assembly must, as a matter of urgency, recruit large numbers of male teachers who will understand how boys think and react. The school curriculum needs a good shaking and real examinations need to be introduced, not results based on course work where there is ample scope for cheating.

Huw Roberts, a Bangor University teaching lecturer, said, "There has been a worry that disaffection was growing, especially among boys. There has been a concern that lessons have not been aimed at boys and that girls have been finding them easier. Boys tend not to listen if they are not interested."

The basic problem lies in our university teaching departments where the training of teachers is woeful. It should be a general rule that all teacher training staff should have at least ten years experience in the classroom and it should be made clear that they are not teaching "children"; they are teaching "boys and girls".

So, how seriously is the Assembly taking this urgent problem? A spokesman for the Assembly said that "Targets are being re-examined." Apparently they are waiting to study the findings of a working group set up by the Department of education and Skills which will be published in the spring.

In Australia an interesting survey was conducted at Flinders University. Someone - at last - had the gumption to ask the boys what they thought about the education they are receiving. Two important results emerged. The "experts" in the UK have stated that the reason that boys are underperforming is that they think it's "uncool" to be clever. The boys interviewed by Flinders proved this view to be absolutely wrong. A huge percentage said they thought it good to be well educated and clever and that is what they would like to be.

Another finding was that boys will not put up with poor teaching as readily as girls will. It is clear then that the Welsh Assembly must, as a matter of the utmost urgency, fund the recrutiment of more male teachers and ensure that all teachers are properly trained to do the job.