The government blames schools and teachers for boys underperforming. However, science tells a different story. Evolutionary biology shows that females have evolved to have better verbal and emotional skills than males because of the need in prehistoric times for women to take the lead in child rearing. By contrast, the need for males in prehistoric times to hunt in packs for food has made males more prone to violence and also skilled at calculating and planning. Neurologists have added to this insight by showing that the male hormone testosterone has an adverse impact on language skills. So clearly differences in educational performance between boys and girls cannot be explained in terms of failing teachers.