According to literature, boys’ underachievement is effectively analyzed when comparing the boy’s repetition in school, results of the girls, adult literacy and transitions to secondary school to that of the girls (Hickey, 2003).
There have been reports however from sub-Saharan Africa, within some countries of boys underachieving but is not mainly because of performing poorly but high dropouts. The fact that also girls are involved in underachievement clearly indicates that research is still developing.
Prove has indicated that reports which are considered reliable can be those from United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia (Lingard, 2003). Reports from these countries major on the increasing evidence of girls’ high scoring performance, compared to boys. OFSTED (1996), published ‘The Gender Divide: Performance Differences Between Boys and Girls at School’ in the United Kingdom, on the achievement of boys, the New Zealand Education Review Office published ‘Achievement of Boys’, (Aitken, 1999), and lastly in Australia a debate led to a report on ‘Boys: Getting it Right’ (House of Representatives, Standing Committee on Education and Training, 2002). These debates have finally led to programmes rising aimed at increasing the levels of achievement among the boys.
Underachievement can also be derived from the fact that boys are performing below the required limits (Martino & Pallotta-Chiarolli, 2003). This is evidenced by the information gathered after carrying out tests in some countries within the learning centers. Although this covers only some geographical areas, they help in analyzing the educational outcome of those areas.