UK: Boys 'much more likely to be labelled with special needs'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Official figures show that almost one million boys in English state schools had some form of learning difficulty, behavioural problem or speech and language impairment last year compared with just 511,570 girls.

In all, almost a quarter of boys aged five to 19 had some form of difficulty that prevented them playing a full part in lessons, while just 13.7 per cent of girls were diagnosed.

It follows the release of data showing that boys are much less likely to pass primary school tests in the three-Rs or go on to gain good GCSE grades.
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Chris McGovern, a former head teacher and chairman of the Campaign for Real Education, said: “The number of children with special needs has grown incredibly over the last 20 years and it often comes down to poor training and teachers who cannot control children. Classifying children as having special needs is too often a ready excuse.

“There are some children with SEN – for example those on the autistic spectrum – who have genuine needs that must be addressed, but these are in a minority.”'