Category: London
Date: 07.03.2005
Printable version
Inside Out, 91Èȱ¬ ONE (London), Monday 7 March, 7.30pm
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Commission for Racial Equality Chair Trevor Phillips makes a personal journey back to his old school in Wood Green, North London - and visits the United States to find out about a revolutionary initiative over there - before concluding that a tough new strategy is needed to help black boys do better at school.
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In an Inside Out special to be broadcast on Monday night, he argues we need to accept that black boys need special treatment and that, if necessary, we should be prepared to teach them separately.
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He says: "If the only way to break through the wall of attitude that surrounds black boys is to teach them separately for some subjects, then we should be ready for that."
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He thinks its time we came down harder on black fathers: "A tough new strategy would compel black fathers to be responsible fathers. If they can't be bothered to turn up for parents' evening, should they expect automatic access to their sons?"
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He adds: "We need more male black teachers, tempting them with extra cash if necessary."
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He says this is the only way to bring about real change: "I was one of the few lucky ones who escaped the fate of most black men of my generation.
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"We need to embrace some new if unpalatable ideas both at home and at school. None of us, least of all the next generation of black children, can afford a repeat of the last 40 years."
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Trevor Phillips starts off his journey by returning to his old school, White Hart Lane in Wood Green, to get a better understanding of the problem.
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In this school, despite massive improvements made by the head, David Daniels, black Caribbean boys are still underachieving. Nationally nearly half of Britain's young people achieve five GSCE passes - at this school fewer than ten per cent of these boys do.
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The same problem is seen across the UK: nationally almost 70% of African-Caribbean boys leave school with fewer than five or more good GCSEs.
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Phillips respects what David Daniels is doing but feels that a different approach is needed.
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"I get the sneaking feeling that their commitment to treating every child equally prevents them from accepting black boys may need to be treated as a special group," says
Trevor Phillips.
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He identifies some of the reasons stopping black boys from doing better: peer pressure that encourages an attitude that it isn't cool to be clever; low self-esteem and a lack of role models; and a lack of parental involvement, particularly from fathers.
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He believes that there has to be a complete cultural change to help these boys.
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Trevor Phillips then travels to the United States to find out more about a revolutionary American scheme, spearheaded by Dr Stan Mims in poverty stricken East St Louis, that is addressing some of the problems he has identified and is having amazing results.
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He is particularly impressed by Dr Mim's belief that what happens outside the home is as important as what happens inside the classroom.
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