Could it be the apparent complete lack of interest or investment in the indigenous population in preference for squandering a lot of attention and cash on our overseas visitors?

It seems the population has reached such levels in the country now that the competition for jobs must have become more pressured than ever and you wonder if some youngsters are giving up before they've even got to the job seeking stage.

I thought Labour were sorting this out? In 1997 they said that it will be a thing of the past.

Labour spent record amounts on education and Tuscan Tony's mantra was 'education, education, education' yet once again the working areas of this country have been let down. Considering that Blair was a toff (Fettes Public School - Scotland's Eton) maybe it is no surprise that they were out of touch with real people.

Labour were planning £100m of cuts on education after the election but still, with all the money thrown at it why do we have such alarming figures?

I think it is because the money was spent on shiny new buildings so in other words glossing over.

Labour spent £24m on that 'school of the future' in Knowsley yet it has closed down after two years! It looks amazing though and is better than many company headquarters. So whilst £24m was wasted on that, just ten miles down teh road we have child in educational poverty.

Oh and at this flagship school the teachers weren't called teachers but 'progress leaders'.

Yeh and the real reason for this is that the english children do not now get the full attention of the teacher as this now goes to migrated children who can hardly speak a word of english. I would like to see the results from church of england schools and cathlolic schools and a pound to a penny that the results are a 100% turnaround as the catholic schools only let cathlolic kids in with a certificate of baptism so that rules out most of the immigrants. White and black english children are suffering at the hands of the goverments immigration setup and i think its a little to late to change now. The poor teachers, i take my hat of i couldn't do it.

how about sopecial assistants for all the english kids...might bumb the stats up abit.

"Poverty blamed as white children do worst in Manchester schools" - absolute rubbish!!!!!!


These Somali, Pakistani, and a multitude of other ethnic origins, are coming here with virtually nothing and doing so much better academically and professionally, so how can your headline be anyhting more than an excuse for what is simply a bad attitude to learning and work ethic, rather than a lack of money.!?

I would say it has more to do with generations of benefit spongers who have had everything provided for them, so therefore has not provided them wirth any incentive to try harder and go out and work for it!

This is typically the rallying call for Labour and Liberal supporters to turn out and vote for the status quo of a life on benefits. With this mentality the UK will sink further into the mire of a downward spiral of benefit dependency and thinking the government will provide for all your needs.

Yet another reason for the press/government to differentiate between race...

I predict that this is going to bring out some cracking debate!

And this would have nothing to do with the obsessive policies from local authorities on focusing on pupils whose first language isn't English. No. Not at all.

Izzit coz i is white?

I think it's absolutely preposterous to suggest that poverty is to blame amongst white children. It's silly, uneducated and dangerous to even put that thought out. Is there no poverty amongst black, asian, chinese or children of any other race? Poverty doesn't discriminate, the system does.

The level of red tape, political correctness has put some sections of our COMMUNITIES, in a position of second rate. Aswell as the education system being looked at, we also need to look at ourselves and this whole ott political correct state we're in.

The poor results, have nothing to do with creed, colour or financial status of the families, It is all down to parenting, Most 'non-white' parents I see, place the education of their children , top of their duty to give kids, the best start in life.

The "perpetual failure" of Manchester schools - yet how much does the chief executive of Manchester City Council get paid?
(Oops sorry, we're not meant to question his pay are we???)

Not a surprise following years of Liebour rule during which as their MP's admit, they 'forgot' about the white majority. This is the legacy, and unfortunately Camerons blinkered greedy, concentrating on slashing every area of public expenditure he can, has done nothing to change the hated politically correct attitudes within those public services.

Recent events have led senior Police officers to comment that they have been unable to speak out because of the fear of being called racist, and this extends to other areas too. Until Cameron begins to unpick the loonie leftist disaster that affects society then he will continue to hear stories like this. The first thing he could do could be to legislate to allow freedom of speach, there are many sites which won't even allow a blog like this to be posted because of fear induced by Liebour.

Speaking two languages can often be an advantage for a child if it's done well. Speaking only one language poorly is clearly a disadvantage by comparison and creates a lazy brain. In my opinion the unwillingness of English-speakers to speak other languages is killing our own language and dumbing down both adults and their offspring.

not just poverty but low aspiration. people watch tv and see no marks with no talent becoming famous. there needs to be a load of positive role models to instill in kids a desire to acheive and desire to attain. you aint gonna get anything out of life by wanting to be the next jade goodey, kerry katona or jordan.

Who cares about white kids? That's racist.

Is it just me or are all the results across most races pretty disappointing. Why the MEN needs to distinguish between kids on race I don't know, as on the whole all races seem to be doing about the same, give or take a few percentage points.

I mean, after all the money spent on education, only around half of kids are coming out with a decent education, whilst half are not getting the 5 GCSE's required as standard.

I know grades are not the 'be all and end all' of everything, but they of course help job prospects etc.

This story is just waiting to be picked up by the Daily Mail!!

One thing I would say is why are the authorities obsessed with who's white, black, Asian, Chinese etc?

I was brought up not to see colur or race but that we are all equal and the same so why do these usually PC authorities always seek to divide by categorising people? They should work out what the average educational levels is in a particular school and that is is - not by colour or race.

It is a though they want a spreadsheet that makes sure that the balance of education when comapred with all races is equal. You will never get peffect statistics.

I had a questionnaire from a University on behalf of the NHS wanting to know about my surgery - do they answer my call in a timely manner, do the staff greet me well, does the doctor show compassion etc. At the end they wanted to know if I was white, black, gay, straight, disabled etc so that they could 'improve their service'. I would say if I as a white British person and a Chinese person would both be hacked off if we were kept on hold for 45 minutes, regardless of what skin colour we are.

It is just not on.

what a ridiculous argument, implying poverty is the reson for poor results. the problems stem from the parents and attitudes of these parents towards school/education. Many parents of children in "ethnic" groups (although many of these are born in this country and are as British as any white child) place education as vital for their future, and ensure that their children do their homework,study hard,and have the right attitude towards education. Indeed, many of those who are immigrants to the country consider it a privalige to be here, and the kids have the attitude of wanting to learn. to say that kids in areas of deprivation wont do well is tarring them all with the same brush. there are kids from these areas who come from poor families,who do well at school because they have the right attitude and upbringing. If goverment/councils want to tackle problems with results, they first need to tackle the problem of poor parenting and educate these parents into the importance of their childrens education

White people who stay were they were borne are inevitably less ambitious than those who are enterprising and move around to better themselves.

Manchester is a declining area where the hard workers leave where they can do better. These results are not a surprise.

Just to makes things clear I'm white too - but I moved.

Having spent many years working in Hong Kong, it is interesting to see the very good results of Chinese students. It was no surprise to me. Chinese families are much closer than those in the west and you will hardly ever see their young out on the streets at night and falling foul of the law. Chinese parents value education and drum into their children from a very young age that a good education can set you up for life. The Chinese are a proud people, who do not accept hand-outs very readily. They support their children's learning, their teachers and their schools. The result? Very good attainment.

Yet again the media trying to make ethnic groups look better than the English, we get it, they come to our Country, take it over, take our jobs, take over the streets, The English are getting forgotten about and it's not right at all, I'll stand up and defend the English people because if you haven't forgotten it is England not Multiland. All I can say is Don't be surprised if people turn to BNP.

I have a daughter who had the ability to write very good essays, however, her spelling was awful. I noted that the english teacher gave her very good marks and never once corrected ANY spelling errors.

At a parents evening I commented on this to the teacher concerned and was told that it was imperative not to spoil the flow of words by being petty about correct spelling.

This view is totally alien to me as a professional man. When are these teachers going to learn that correct spelling does matter in the real world?

With teaching standards at that level is it any wonder that the pupils attainment is so low?