The Trouble With Boys
Eva Langlands writes in Scottish Sunday Herald, and looks at how Scotland might close the gender gap in schools and improve boys’ attitude to learning.
YOU can sense the nervous excitement at Dalziel High School, Motherwell. Pupils stream out of the front gates dressed in the school’s distinctive blazer and tie, having just taken the first major academic test of their lives: Standard Grades.
As pupils confer on answers, some will attribute today’s achievement to one single factor: single-sex teaching.
“My grades have improved since boys and girls separated. I find it a lot easier to concentrate now,” says 14-year-old male Saas el-Zuba, who attends single-sex maths classes at the school.
“Before boys were always trying to show off or be cheeky to the teacher. Now the atmosphere is more relaxed. I’d like to have single-sex classes for more subjects, particularly difficult ones.”
Single-sex schooling is the Motherwell school’s answer to closing the ever-widening gender gap in attainment, highlighted last week by new figures which revealed that female students at Scottish universities outnumber men by more than 36,000.
The article also offers the following statistics:
- 5% of boys read books in their spare time compared with 17% of girls.
- 57% of 14-year-old boys fail writing tests compared with 49% of all 14-year-olds.
- Women make up 56% of undergraduates at Scottish universities, outnumbering men by more than 36,000.