Boys' Underperformance in Education: Revisiting the Issue in the Commonwealth

Abstract

Every child, regardless of gender, has the right to an education that offers not only academic learning but also training in the skills they will need to be successful in their particular environment. However, as recent statistics indicate, a significant percentage of children are still unable to access good quality education and so are denied its associated benefits. While a majority of these children are girls, concerns about boys’ underperformance in schools have also been raised. This report follows up on a 2006 report that addressed the factors that are crucial to understanding boys’ underperformance in Commonwealth countries (Jha & Kelleher, 2006), and aims to: document the changes in participation and performance of boys in Commonwealth countries since 2006, examine factors that continue to contribute to boys’ underperformance, and summarise lessons learned from various interventions in different countries during the past ten years.