We have all seen the data and heard the debate. Our boys are underperforming in our pre, primary and secondary schools, so much so, that in 2010, only one-quarter the graduates of the University of the West Indies and one-third of those from UTECH were males.This issue is not unique to Jamaica as throughout western education systems, boys are threatening to become a permanent underclass, achieving at slower rates and at lower levels than girls. Educators and social scientists have argued persuasively that there is a link between the formation of a masculine identity and educational performance. The argument runs like this: education and doing well in school are seen as feminine and hence are rejected by boys who want to fit in and be ‘a man’. If only it were that simple we could reconstruct what being a man means through very effective behaviour change communication techniques and we would alter the thinking of our sons and they would tap into that  inner capacity and begin achieving at an acceptable level. But it is not. The persistent under-performance and in some cases, under participation of boys in schools is a complex social dynamic which cannot be addressed through simple causal analysis.  The solution requires that we examine every facet of our society – our homes, our schools, churches, our media- and face and name the discriminatory tendencies and all  the socialization practices that have resulted in our boys feeling alienated and insufficient. It requires that we ask some uncomfortable questions about expectations of our men and aspirations for our sons.While we interrogate those more deep-seated social issues, we also have to consider how the structure of schools and the delivery of our curriculum influence the extent to which boys engage in education. Having identified the negative which we wish to change, we will also discuss how we will design and implement programmes to change these negatives and create an environment in which our sons can flourish and grow to a new type of manhood.And lest we consider this phenomenon a side issue I want to remind us that our collective future is inextricably bound to the socialization and educational performance of our boys. Therefore, over the next three days I hope that as a community we will help to put this matter front and centre on the national educational agenda and keep it there until we fix it.