Dulwich College declines bursary donation in support of poor white boys

[ElluesPichulobu]

Guardian link here

now on the one hand, given that there is no ethical issue with bursary funds earmarked for ethnic minorities and given that statistically poor white boys do significantly underperform academically compared with other ethnic and socioeconomic groups, it seems perverse that the donor isn't being allowed to make this gift to help redress this imbalance. this isn't about donating to future Boris Johnson types coming from a cradle of privilege but about finding those highly disadvantaged kids from a social sink hole council estate and giving them access to an education that is unavailable to them except by charitable donations like this.

however, thinking about it more I am coming down on the side that the school is right that this is inappropriate. this is because the statistics showing that poor white boys underperform compared to other groups is an overall average which will obviously cover a very wide range of ability effort and circumstances. among the cohort of poor white boys living close enough to Dulwich College that they might consider applying if there was a 100% funded option, there will always be a small number of highly motivated, high achieving boys with supportive parents who know that getting the best education possible is the path out of poverty. Those kids are going to do well even at a state comprehensive and picking out one or two of them too enjoy the privileges of private education would have zero effect on the underperformance of the socioeconomic cohort because they are not where the issue lies.

if a cohort's average outcomes are unacceptably low, it doesn't help to take one or two individuals from the highest performing end of the cohort to boost their outcomes yet higher - that will have a negligible effect on the average.

where you need to spend the money is on the lowest performing quartile of the cohort, and do so in ways that give a boost to the motivations and opportunities of a larger number of individuals not just hand picking a single individual to be handed a golden ticket to escape the fate of the rest of their contemporaries.

my idea for how to spend this money would be : establishing a project at a target underperforming deprived-area comprehensive school that engages and enthuses large numbers of kids. there are numerous national and international science and engineering project inter-school competitions to design, build and race vehicles of various kinds, which private schools dominate because they have the funding, equipment and staff energy to make it happen - and most comps simply can't do it. A gift to make something like that possible at an underperforming comp would have a huge impact and uplifting effect on the outcomes for dozens of youngsters.

how would you spend a million pounds to tackle the underperformance of poor white boys?

A million pounds is never going to to change the economic situation of a whole cohort, but it could certainly provide a leg up to a handful of people. The trouble is Dulwich are probably trying to increase their ethnic diversity, and given that the large majority of privileged people attending are white, they kill two birds with one stone when they give bursaries to underprivileged ethnic minorities, which I agree unfairly disadvantages someone with the same academic ability who happens to be white. I'd give it to a local comprehensive instead for a specific programme, such as a challenge group for the brightest in the school to go and visit museums, go to theatre, extra language classes, music lessons etc. that would pass the gift wider.

What would be wrong with helping a few if you can't change the world? I also think it made a big difference to people thinking about applying to Eton knowing that Mr Little was the son of a taxi driver and cleaner who had once come to Eton on a scholarship. If you know about the success of people who are 'like you', there is less of an apprehension to follow in their footpath, if you have the inclination, talent and grit.

Really conflicted on this one. On balance I think the bequest should be targeted at underprivileged kids regardless of race. I don’t think the donor was wrong to propose it, but I do think it was poor judgement. If you increase the pool of potential applicants you simply have a better chance of finding an underprivileged star who will make the most of an opportunity they would not otherwise have. Narrowing the field just makes no sense.

I don't understand why he doesn't create an education trust and sponsor "poor white boys" that have gained a place to any independent school and then create a mentoring program whereby the boys would be supported throughout their educational journey into University. This way the funds wouldn't be tied to any one school or area of the country.

The funds are aimed at the two schools he attended

Stormzy sponsors black kids into Oxbridge

but sadly I think the schools are right to turn the money down as it would be gamed as many bursaries already are

@ListeningQuietly in what way are the burseries at these schools gamed?. I am asking because we will be applying to one of them and I may be a bit naive .

So why can Stormzy sponsor black kids but this chap ask for something that tbh sounds the same.

I think the schools are wrong to turn it down. White working class boys do poorly in education and if some can be helped surely that's a good thing.
Our local public co-ed school has 2 6th form sports scholarships which is only available to boys. Surely this is equally shocking? There is no equivalent for girls..

So why can Stormzy sponsor black kids but this chap ask for something that tbh sounds the same

Because black people experience discrimination because of their skin colour which is additional to the disadvantage of being from a poor background. When this is no longer the case we can dispense with this type of positive action.

Not just Dulwich, also Winchester

You might be.interessted in the. existing thread about this

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/3781553-to-think-the-schools-should-ve-accepted-this

So why can Stormzy sponsor black kids but this chap ask for something that tbh sounds the same

Stormzy had also been turned down by some places. This chap can therefore adopt the Stormzy model by approaching other schools until i he finds one glad to have the donation

I think the point is these are the two schools the benefactor attended himself... he's not looking to work with 'any' school.

That's a shame because it misses out on boys in the North that are especially in need of mentoring. Both schools already have robust bursary programs.

His money, his choice who he offers it to.
Other schools can find other benefactors.

"I think the point is these are the two schools the benefactor attended himself... he's not looking to work with 'any' school"

If his aim is tomsupoirtneither/both schools in their community outreach, then he could the money with no strings attached to those schools for any purpose which furthers the aim of widening access.

But if his aim is really what he states it to be - to provide better life chances for the underperforming white boys - he could keep offering the money to other causes who would be glad of it. I suspect intervention at primary school level might be more effective than waiting until later?

Why can't he offer bursaries to lower income kids in general?

As stated by another poster it's his money - I don't think you can tell him how and where to donate it.

Of course you can't tell him, but it's reasonable to lay out some options of what he could do next as he's not able to spend it as first he thought, he now has the opportunity to find other ways to achieve his stated aim.

The ones that occur to me are:

• give unrestricted to outreach programmes of the two schools, if his aim is to work with those schools specifically
• give to other private schools who would be happy to restrict the gift to underperforming white boys, if his aim is to provide private schooling to that demographic
• give to other initiatives seeking to raise the performance of underperforming white boys, if his aim is to help those boys and he would consider other ways of achieving this than private school bursaries
• select an entirely different area of philanthropy, because his aim is to do good for the disadvantaged and he is prepared to consider a range of other options
• decide not to give

As I understand it stormzy pays the fees and living costs of 2 black students already accepted at cambridge. His money does not affect the entry criteria to cambridge. Those students have to get there first by the normal routes.

What was being proposed for poor white boys would have affected who was selected for these independent schools. These schools don't want to use ethnicity as selection criteria.

Also the underperformance of poor white boys is a structural issue that should be addressed within the state system through better funding for state schools.

Veering off here but if I had that sort of money to give away I would focus it on state schools in deprived areas. I'd make sure that talented pupils had access to the extra tuition you get for Oxbridge when you go to a private school
(For entrance papers and the like) and have a proper mentoring system, perhaps involving top unis who (and I know this true despite the outreach done) get to only a fraction of state schools. Perhaps I'd get advice from the Sutton Trust. Rather than stripping talent from these areas I'd find a way of nurturing it in situ so good things perpetuate

I think it is a shame that this has been viewed negatively but understand why they rejected it

Stormzy's offer was turned down by Oxford before being taken up by Cambridge

This benefactor could keep looking for school/s that would accept.

Or set up his own grant-giving because body?

I hope he can be persuaded to do this:

I'd give it to a local comprehensive instead for a specific programme, such as a challenge group for the brightest in the school to go and visit museums, go to theatre, extra language classes, music lessons etc. that would pass the gift wider.

Yes, the statistics show that white working class boys are the bottom of the educational achievement pile, and I 'get' that he thinks sending a couple to 'his' schools will help, but this ^ would be so much better, if he could be persuaded.

We live in an area of v poor attainment and aspiration. Our kids went to the local school but we're lucky because they had the capital of having middle class parents with education and aspiration. I often wondered about some of my DC's classmates and wonder how they'd have done with just a little of what my DC had. A kindly benefactor might have been able to inject a little of that

I wonder if they'd accept the same offer at one of their international schools (but instead of poor white boys it would be another disadvantaged group there)?

The benefactor could make the funding available to poorer/disadvantaged boys and the chances are that most of the beneficiaries would be white anyway.