A major conference was held last month to debate the ‘problem’ of the failure of black pupils in the Croydon area to achieve better school results. It followed last year's GCSE figures which showed that 32 per cent of Afro-Caribbean youngsters who obtained five or more A* to C passes fell well short of the borough's overall rate of 48.3 per cent.

The conference took place at the Hilton Hotel in Croydon on April 12th, with the local Mayor and the Racial Equality Chairman Tremor Phillips in attendance. It was chaired by Diane Abbott, the black Labour MP for Hackney.

One of the organisers of the conference, one Nero Ughwujabo, said of the under-achievement of young Blacks: "This is a very serious issue and we want to explore what can be done to tackle it."

The conference focused on numerous sociological factors which, in the submission of some of the delegates, explained the phenomenon. One was insufficient parental motivation, and there was a call for: "fathers as learning mentors." The conference also discussed "building links with community and voluntary groups."

The precise cost of this event is not as of this moment known. But one thing that can be said is that, like similar events, it was a complete waste of time.

It was a waste of time because no one present would have dared to address the dominant truth that lies at the bottom of the whole affair. This is simply that - how shall we put it? - black people have different learning aptitudes from other ethnic groups, just as the latter have different learning aptitudes from each other. These differences are mostly inherent, that is to say rooted in the genes. It is not ‘anti-black’ to acknowledge this; in fact, far more harm is done to Blacks by denying it and encouraging academic expectations on their part which cannot be fulfilled.

How many delegates at the Croydon conference would have been aware of this? We suspect far more than would appear the case. The trouble is that each and every one knew that it would have been the end of their job and their career had they stood up and said so.

Of course, a builder's foreman from any nearby site could have been called in and consulted on the matter at hand, and would have come up with a more intelligent answer to the problem than this assemblage of dignitaries - albeit that it might have been delivered in rather less than diplomatic language. This would have saved a lot of time and expense; but it would not, needless to say, have been appreciated.