Are Black Afro Caribbean boys underachieving within the Education Dissertation

Are Black Afro Caribbean boys underachieving within the Education system that are born in the UK - Dissertation Example Out of all the communities, debate about children of Caribbean heritage has been most controversial. There is no denial of the fact that Caribbean children are under achieving in UK. In 2004, according to National Statistics, the lowest levels of GCSE attainment were among black Caribbean pupils, particularly boys. Only 27% of black Caribbean boys and 44% of black Caribbean girls were said to have achieved five or more A*-C grade GCSEs. (BBC News 2009). The statistical release issued by Department for Children, Schools and Families at National statistics UK has reported that in 2008/9 44.3 percent of Black African pupils achieved a good level of development. This is 7.3 percentage points below the national average; this difference in achievement shows a reduction from 2008 when it was 10.7 percentage points. In 2009 27.3 percent of Black African pupils were classified as being in the lowest achieving 20 percent of pupils, this is a reduction from 2007 when 30.2 percent of Black Afric an pupils were classified as being in this group. 43.0 percent of Black Caribbean pupils achieved a good level of development. This is 8.6 percentage points below the national average; this difference in achievement has reduced from 2008 when it was 9.4 percentage points. ... It became evident that children were treated with discrimination, being called dull, slow learners, UN responsive, troublesome, dull, low achievers, backwards and UN intelligent. Observing all this, black parents moved to draw public attention and demanded government to take concrete actions. Since 1960 government took many actions and policy initiatives however to this day, concerns remain in air about educational performance of these children and their treatment. The low achievement of Caribbean children is in great contrast to high achievements by children of other minority ethnic groups in UK. There are many theories available to explain this problem. These theories include low IQ, genetics, poor self esteem, racism against society and schools, race politics in UK, poor quality of schools and poor home environments of children. It is an important observation that educationalists and government view this problem with different perspectives. This paper is an endeavour to understand why black British children of African Caribbean origin achieve less in academics and are subject of increased expulsion from schools. In the UK, in the 1960s and ‘70s, Black children were routinely labelled â€Å"educationally sub-normal† (ESN) and confined to ESN schools, also known as sin-bins. The parents often did not challenge the verdict of the teachers and the schools, but just accepted the situation. One reason for underachievement of students has been indifference of parents towards the situation. Educationalist Dr Tony Sewell from UK has researched and stated as late as September 2010 that institutional racism in education has no part to play in the educational failure of African