?I commend the Minister of Education for her initiative to undertake a pilot single-sex school project. Although several people have voiced opinions, very few referred to research findings on this issue. I would like to show how education research supports single-sex secondary schools.
Academic achievement
Single-sex schools in most countries show higher scores for both male and female students. This has been found in Jamaica by researchers Hamilton, Bailey and Evans. In T&T I have collected statistics on CXC math and English for 2001-2003 and the results are similar. Does this not indicate that conditions in single-sex schools are more conducive to academic achievement? Some might argue that in T&T the brightest go to prestige schools that are often single-sex, but does this not suggest that these schools achieved prestige as a consequence of their superior single-sex learning environment? The UK's Office for Studies in Education found that the superior level of achievement in single-sex schools had little to do with socio-economic factors, but with the more positive attitude to learning found in such schools.
Socialising
Education is more than academic achievement; schools must socialise young people on positive ways. The research clearly shows that negative gender stereotypes are nurtured in co-ed schools where some subjects are regarded as male subjects and others are seen as soft subjects suitable for females. The UK's National Foundation for Education Research found that girls at single-sex schools were more likely to take non-traditional female subjects such as advanced mathematics and physics than in co-ed schools. The research shows that girls in single-sex schools have increased motivation to succeed in math and science, and that there is less math anxiety among girls in single-sex schools. Conversely, boys in single-sex schools are more likely to accept music and art. The noted Jamaican researcher Hyacinth Evans found that the masculine identity develops differently in different environments. In co-ed classrooms boys are more intent on preserving the masculine traits that are defined by the society. Can we deny that in the Carib-bean setting many boys gain their male identity through sports and through sexual prowess and control over girls? What kind of masculine identity are T&T's co-ed secondary schools producing?�We should have an idea. Researchers have found that in order to preserve a masculine image some boys will conceal or suppress interest in academics. It has been found that because of peer pressure, many girls in co-ed schools are forced to conform to traditional forms of femininity, where females must be subservient to males. However, the single-sex environment provides girls with more freedom to break out of these repressive and traditional roles.� �
Discipline
The research shows that there is improved discipline in single-sex schools. Research by Younger and Warrington in the US found that boys felt safer in a single-sex environment where there was much less bullying and aggression. One principal, commenting on the change of his school from co-ed to single-sex, said that discipline improved instantly. "The change in the atmosphere happened overnight, same kids, same teachers. Switching to single-sex classrooms had a dramatic effect." Here in T&T we have had many instances of school violence. We seldom hear of sustained and frequent violence in our single-sex schools. What is the source of these conflicts that lead to fights, stabbings and other acts of aggression? I may well ask: is it that most of these fights result from girls fighting over boys and boys fighting over girls? I call on the Student Support Services Division of the Ministry of Education to answer this question because it has the statistics and the reports. I also call on that unit to reveal its findings on teenage pregnancies. Is it true that our co-ed secondary schools provide an arena for young adolescents to be forced into adult sex roles?
I am not advocating total separation of the sexes in secondary schools. Surely there should be well managed opportunities for members of the opposite sex to come to know each other. However, I believe that the learning environments should be single-sex, until CXC. An article in the Jamaica Gleaner on March 3, 2008, reveals that Hyacinth Evans, professor of teacher education at the UWI's Institute of Education, believes that gender separation should be expanded islandwide in Jamaica. I applaud our own pilot in T&T, but I suggest that it must be carefully planned. All parties involved should be trained, educated and otherwise prepared. Data should be collected now to serve as benchmarks. During the pilot, quantitative and qualitative data should be collected from all parties involved including the students. Changes should be introduced in response to unanticipated challenges that arise. There should be frequent dissemination of developments to the public. I call on TTUTA to support this project, and I wish it every success.
?David Subran, PhD (education)
Chaguanas