the reason for the preponderance of music and media courses, is that these are the things that encourage disillusioned kids to engage (it isn't just black kids, of course - at my school, where "white british" kids are a tiny minority, it is they who underachieve most dramatically).
the courses are there in vocational subjects, but with the exception of girls studying 'health and social care', those courses are not the ones that the kids want to take. They don't feel they offer respect or are a desirable alternative, and so they do nothing to solve the problem.
Earning a decent wage doesn't really come up as an ambition for the kids i teach (in S London) - they don't see themselves or their family as being particularly disadvantaged by their lack of wealth (perhaps because so many of them have relatives in countries who are far, far 'poorer' in real terms). They'd like to be solicitors, but only in that half-arsed way that they want to be entertainers of fashion designers... earning loads of money would be cool (though not generally worth the effort) - but earning a middle-income doesn't really seem to be a motivation much over living on the dole / minimum wage.
