One in 11 boys leaves primary school 'unable to read'

www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-12000886
Publication date: 17 December 2010

One in eleven boys starts secondary school with the reading skills of a an average seven-year-old. The government is now bringing in a reading check for six-year-olds to identify these problems in an early stage. The problem is worse for boys according to the figures. Dylan William, professor of education at the Institute of Education, say it 'is very hard for children who struggling with reading to catch up' and that it 'never had been more important to be able to read to a decent standard because most of the information comes from internet'. A solution can be 'reading recovery' methods, which includes intensive tuition and much smaller class sizes. But these methods are expensive.

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I am not surprised about these figures. I think it is not much different in the Netherlands. But I am surprised about the fact that the problem is worse for boys. I am wondering why that can be. The article does not explain why boys have more problems with reading than girls. That is a pity because I would like to know why.