Muslim schools chief vows to help working class white boys in deprived coastal areas
A Muslim school’s head has vowed to help white working-class children after analysis of pupil improvement in England showed they are lagging far behind their peers.
Data published last week by the government revealed that the top three performing schools were run by Star Academies, which focuses on developing schools in deprived inner city areas.
Star Academies has reportedly now turned its attention to deprived coastal areas whose populations are mainly white and has taken on schools in Blackpool and Morecambe on the Lancashire coast.
Hamid Patel, CEO of Star Academies, told The Times: “There is no doubt a white child has advantages.
“You only have to look at the statistics on employment, average pay, the prison system and even life expectancy.
“This underlines how severe our issues are with white working-class boys that, despite the inherent advantages, they do so badly.
“Only one in seven white working-class boys will pass their GCSE in English and maths. That is a national disgrace.”
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Star Academies’ current portfolio of schools, Tauheedul Islam Girls’ School in Blackburn, Eden Boys’ School in Birmingham and Eden Girls’ School in Coventry, had the highest pupil progress scores in the country.
The pupil progress scores provide a measure for how much pupils improve between primary school and GCSEs.
Government data analysed by The Times showed that coastal schools are among the worst at helping pupils progress.
More than a third (37%) of the lowest 100 performing schools are on the coast, compared with 13% of the top 100.
