No ambition

AS AN English teacher in an outstanding state secondary school, I have my own ideas about why white, working-class children fare so badly at GCSE (Mail).

The culture they are brought up in has little respect for education. These children are not necessarily the poorest, but, in their lives, respect is predicated on image and wealth, not academic attainment.

Their idols are the likes of Cheryl Cole and Wayne Rooney. They have no pride in their past and, therefore, no aspirations for the future.

I have had 15-year-old boys explain to me that the reason they are not bothered about their English GCSE is because they will be employed in a family building company where they can earn £100 per day as labourers.

They can’t see further than that and the point is reiterated at parents’ evening — if the parents attend.

Unlike most Asian and Chinese children, they have no desire to gain knowledge for its own sake.

Another obvious factor is lax parenting with regard to internet and social media access. The majority of teenagers, even those on free school meals, have the latest smartphones and exist on a diet of trivia, trolling and pornography. They lack the strict parameters put in place by most Asian families.

Changing the fortunes of white, working- class children will mean a massive cultural shift, backed up by legislation. Unfortunately, I do not believe that any government will have the guts to do it.

Mrs WENDY CASCIO, St Leonards-on-Sea, E. Sussex.