Minister announces drive for equal treatment in classroom

THE Minister for Education has announced a drive to encourage schools to promote equal treatment of boys and girls in the classroom.

The Department of Education is organising regional seminars to disseminate the findings of recent research on co education Ms Breathnach announced.

This study found that the slight under performance of girls in coed schools was related to how the schools "manage" gender differences among their pupils. It recommended more training for principals and teachers, and a wider availability of subjects to both boys and girls.

"Without equality of the sexes, Europe cannot maximise its greatest resource its people," the Minister told an EU conference on gender equality in Dublin yesterday.

"Educational achievement has become much more important to people's employment and career chances. Therefore, gender inequalities in achievement are likely to translate into labour market inequalities between men and women."

Ms Breathnach said that almost 60 per cent of Irish pupils were being educated in co-ed schools and this percentage was likely to rise. Gender equality was of concern to both sexes and should not be seen as an issue for women alone.

"It's fair to say that boys tend to have an over inflated opinion of their own abilities, while girls tend to be more modest," Prof Damian Hannon of the ESRI, one of the authors of the study, told the conference.

Co ed schools appear to have some effect on girls' academic performance, particularly in maths and the science subjects. The State needs to become more proactive in promoting gender equality policies at a school level and in the classrooms, particularly in schools which are the results of amalgamations."

The ESRI study of more than 10,000 second level students found that co education is overwhelmingly popular with the pupils themselves.

It also uncovered "disturbingly high" levels of stress among students, particularly among girls taking the Leaving Certificate.