Raissa Butkowski wants to tackle gender inequality in education. Photo: Supplied.
The conversation around gender inequality in schools is shifting, with growing concern that boys – not girls – are now being left behind.
Liberal Party candidate for the Farrer by-election Raissa Butkowski has urged families to participate in a new parliamentary inquiry into differences in educational attainment between the genders.
“We’re taking this opportunity to encourage parents across Farrer to tell their stories to the boys’ education inquiry, and help us build a better future for our kids,” Ms Butkowski said.
“If parents are concerned their boys are being left behind, the committee needs to hear their story.”
In 2025, peak body Catholic Schools NSW’s published the research report Echoes of Disparity: Boys’ Education in Australia.
It revealed that boys are struggling in literacy and are overrepresented among the most academically vulnerable school students. This trend is driving adverse outcomes for young men in higher educational attainment, employment participation, and other stages of life.
Boys trail girls in every NAPLAN domain except numeracy, and the gap widens over the course of their schooling.
Recent ABS data confirms there is now an 8 per cent gap between school completion rates for boys and girls. Over the last 10 years, the number of higher education enrolments by young men has fallen by 10,000 – even though the population grew by 3.4 million over the same period.
“We need this parliamentary committee to understand how these issues are playing out on the ground across Farrer, and the impact it’s having” Ms Butkowski said.
“That’s the only way we can be sure that the solutions are appropriate and effective for communities like ours.”
Ms Butkowski joined the Shadow Minister for Education and Indigenous Australians, Julian Leeser to visit Charles Sturt University’s Albury campus for local insights into this and other regional education issues.
“In the past 30 years we have made tremendous strides in the education of women and girls, of which we should be enormously proud,” Mr Leeser said.
“But this is not a zero-sum game, and the data on boys’ education has been very concerning.
“In NSW, there is now an 11-point gap between boys and girls when it comes to school leavers going on to universities. And in places like Albury, across regional NSW, the rate of school leavers going on to higher education is less than half that of the major cities.
“When you put those two things together, it is clear that this is the heartland of where we want to see improvements in boys’ education.”
Submissions to the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Education’s inquiry into the factors driving educational attainment of boys and girls can be made on its website.
