White children bottom of class after decades of neglect say MPs
WHITE working class pupils have been let down in schools by decades of neglect, MPs said yesterday.
Muddled policy thinking and the use of terms such as “white privilege” could have contributed to their failing exam results, it was claimed.
And the Department for Education has failed to acknowledge the extent of the problem, according to a report from the Education Select Committee.
It agreed with the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities that discourse around the term “white privilege” can be “divisive”.
Committee chairman Robert Halfon said: “For decades now, white working class pupils have been let down and neglected by an education system that condemns them to falling behind their peers every step of the way.
“White working class pupils under-perform significantly compared to other ethnic groups. But there has been muddled thinking from all governments and a lack of care to help these disadvantaged white pupils in towns across our country.
“If the Government is serious about closing the overall attainment gap, then the problems faced by the biggest group of disadvantaged pupils can no longer be swept under the carpet.
“Never again should we lazily put the gap down to poverty alone, given that we know free school meal-eligible pupils from other ethnic groups outperform their white British peers.”
The committee accused the DfE of being “reluctant” to recognise the specific challenges faced by the group.
Mr Halfon added: “We desperately need to move away from dealing with racial disparity by using divisive concepts like white privilege that pits one group against another.
“Disadvantaged white children feel anything but privileged when it comes to education.
“Privilege is the opposite to what disadvantaged white children enjoy or benefit from in an education system which is now leaving far too many behind.”
Some 47 per cent of free school meal-eligible white British pupils did not meet the expected standard of development at the end of the early years foundation stage in 2018/19 – around 28,000 children.
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “Schools are well aware of their responsibilities and do a very good job in providing opportunities for discussion around issues in a sensitive, balanced and measured way.”