White parents 'show less interest in education'

White parents are less likely to take an interest in their children's education than black or Asian parents. And they are also more likely to believe that their children's schooling should be left up to their teachers, according to a study for the Department for Children, Schools and Families.

Their lack of involvement is likely to hamper their children's chances of exam success later in life, it says, adding that black parents are more than twice as likely to say they are very involved in their children's education than whites. Black and Asian parents say education is "very important to combat racial discrimination and disadvantage".

It also showed that Chinese and Asian youths consistently outperformed white pupils in maths and English national curriculum tests. The research comes after the Rowntree Foundation found that white working-class pupils made the least progress throughout their schooling.

In a further finding, it revealed that 70 per cent of fathers wanted to play a bigger role in their children's education – rising to 81 per cent in cases where the father no longer lived at home.