Jean Gemmell, general secretary of the Professional Association of Teachers, told the House of Commons education select committee that the problem did not grab headlines because Asian girls tended to behave well and not face exclusion.

Mrs Gemmell, who used to be head of Fernwood, a comprehensive in Nottingham, said that Asian girls either performed incredibly well or very badly. “There isn’t a spread,” she said.

“Very able girls see academic success as a way to continue their autonomy and not have arranged marriages. Girls who aren’t so successful don’t have the need to maximise their work ethic.”

The comments follow the publication of research by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation which suggests that the scale of exclusion and truancy among girls is often unrecognised.

On the underperformance of African-Caribbean boys - raised this week by Diane Abbott MP - Mrs Gemmell said that although she felt race was a factor, other statistics needed to be studied before conclusions were drawn.

She said the boys might be more likely to come from families with no adult male role model, which could be significant.

Nigel de Gruchy, general secretary of the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers, denied race was an issue in the group’s underachievement. “It is more a question of home and economic background and social circumstances,” he said.