Brown vows to combat the gender gap in education

Will Woodward, chief political correspondent
Friday October 13, 2006
The Guardian

Gordon Brown last night promised action to avert the prospect of a "wasted generation of boys" and tackle the gender gap in educational achievement.


The chancellor said he and the education secretary, Alan Johnson, have asked the chief inspector of schools to recommend changes in the classroom to personalise learning to boys' needs, including greater use of computers.

Mr Brown also called for more sport and community service to encourage discipline and personal responsibility, and said that he was looking to do more to support mentoring of younger boys by teenagers.

Delivering the Donald Dewar memorial lecture in Glasgow, Mr Brown warned that the 10-point gap in achievement at GCSEs, with 51% of boys getting five Cs or better compared with 61% of girls, was "stubbornly large".

It affected all ethnic groups and social classes in private and state schools, and in several other countries. He repeated his call for a "fathers' revolution" where dads take greater involvement in schooling and upbringing.

"For many boys and young men this is a time of uncertainty; too many under-perform and some risk falling into the margins of our society, unable to play their full part as citizens, employees and future fathers. We must never accept the existence of a wasted generation of boys," Mr Brown said.

Christine Gilbert, chief inspector of schools, will report on boys' achievement in December as part of her review of personalised learning in England. Mr Brown and Mr Johnson began discussing the issue before the summer and the education secretary was forewarned about yesterday's announcement.

Mr Brown used the speech to deliver an impassioned defence of the "enabling state" in an attempt to draw a battle line with David Cameron, the Conservative leader. The chancellor rejects Mr Cameron's

characterisation of him as an advocate of state-first, top-down solutions. But he sought yesterday to promote the partnership of individuals, the community and the state.
Mr Brown offered another signal that he is prepared as prime minister to take power away from politicians. This could include the introduction of a written constitution and a diminution of prime ministerial power over foreign policy.
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