Left-handed children falling behind, say MPS

LEFT-HANDED pupils are falling behind their peers and the Government is not doing enough to stop it, MPS and educationalists have warned.

Campaigners say that thousands of children are still being “penalised” for being left-handed due to a lack of meaningful action.

It is feared that a failure to address early years challenges, such as poor handwriting, leads to more serious problems – with pupils facing a “downward spiral” of low marks, low self-esteem and reduced career prospects.

Multiple studies in recent years show left-handed children are more likely to have conditions such as dyslexia.

A 2008 study of 10,000 children by researchers at Bristol University found that, on average, left-handers scored lower on IQ tests.

Sir Peter Luff, the former Conservative defence minister, said it was “bewildering” that successive governments had failed to address the wellpublicised issue. Alongside the pressure group Left ‘n’ Write, a Worcester-based handwriting alliance, Sir Peter has called on the Department for Education to conduct greater research and provide training for teachers.

While Nick Gibb, the Minister for Schools, has written to the campaigners to allay their concerns, Mark Stewart, a specialist from Left ‘n’ Write, pointed out that the department does not record the number of children who are left-handed or their educational attainment.

“In many cases there’s no active help, there’s a lack of teaching training,” he said.

“Early years education where children are struggling, making a mess of handwriting, they think this is a pain, no one knows how to sort it, they get low marks, low self-esteem, does it get into a downward spiral?”

A Department for Education spokesman said: “We trust teachers to provide support to children who are struggling for any reason.”