'Reading for pleasure' key to turning boys into readers Male
reading volunteers in schools and parenting programmes that
focus on fathers are among the recommendations of a major report
into how to tackle the gap between boys and girls in reading. It
also says that schools need to promote ‘reading for pleasure’
and seek out books and texts that boys will enjoy based on their
interests. There should also be less emphasis on the ‘mechanics’
of reading and more on reading for enjoyment. The Boys Reading
Commission report compiled by the National Literacy Trust for
the All-Party Parliamentary Literacy Group found that while the
gap is widening between boys and girls in reading, there is no
national strategy to address the problem. Last year, there was a
gap of 11 percentage points between boys and girls in reading at
the end of Reception. Between the age of five and seven the gap
narrows, but then increases again. At 14, girls are outstripping
boys in English by 12 percentage points. Last year, 59 per cent
of boy