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Ken Livingstone speaks at last year’s conference |
Working to improve black pupils’ results
Diane Abbott MP warns that action must be taken if black pupils are to do well at school, writes Jane Wild
BLACK school children who underachieve are being failed by the school system and action must be taken to tackle the longstanding problem.
This is the warning from Diane Abbott MP who is behind yearly London conferences to raise awareness of the issue.
In September, Diane Abbott, Mayor Ken Livingstone, schools minister Lord Andrew Adonis and Tim Campbell, the 2005 winner of the BBC’s The Apprentice, will be among speakers at this year’s London Schools and the Black Child conference.
During the free one-day event, parents, children and teachers are invited to participate in discussions and workshops focussing on how to boost black pupils’ achievement.
Youngsters of African-Caribbean heritage do worse in school than their peers, in contrast to other ethnic groups, for instance Chinese, who perform above average.
Diane Abbott said: “It is very concerning that black children, particularly boys, are underachieving in school.
“When they start school aged five, they are at the same level, but at the age of 11 the level starts to drop off.
“By the age of 16 there is a big gap, which needs to be closed.
“In part it is due to youth culture, the attitude that it’s not cool to study.”
The London Schools and the Black Child conference will be preceded the previous evening by a central London awards ceremony celebrating achievements of black pupils.
Diane Abbott continued: “Very slowly, we are now starting to see improvement; results are improving and the downward trend has been reversed.
“Both teachers and the government have a responsibility to take action; everyone has to play a part.”
The conference is the fourth since its 2002 inception and has, to date, had attendances of nearly 6,000.
Seminar themes for the 2006 conference examine topics such as supporting black teachers, empowering parents to empower their children and strategies to improve the achievement of black boys.
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