Failure is not an option
The infographic (link in the further reading section) gives some interesting information as to why boys seem to be lagging behind girls in terms of achievement in education, and their future development academically
Some interesting facts:
- girls out perform boys in ALL countries when it comes to reading.
- At age 15, 60% of the lowest achievers in mathematics and science are boys
- 20% of boys play collaborative online games as against 2% of girls
There is considerably more information on this infographic which was produced from OECD figures and reports.
The following excerpts from the report ‘The ABC of Gender Equality in Education: Aptitude, Behaviour, confidence is telling and worrying –
…Young men are significantly more likely than young women to have low levels of skills and poor academic achievement, and are more likely to leave school early…(Osborne et al., 2003: Charles and Grusky, 2004)
…Many boys find school out of sync with their interests and preferences and, as a result, often feel disaffected and not motivated to work in school…the underachievement of young men has severe consequences not only for their own futures (Erikson et al., 2005; Rose and Betts, 2004), but for societies as a whole (OECD, 2010)…
The continuous tinkering with the United Kingdom’s educational system, the under investment, and undermining of teachers, the closure of libraries with also the lack of ‘relevant’ areas of interest for boys within both education and libraries means that we are on a road leading to failure for both our society and our country.
Failure is not an option, if we want to succeed as a country!
Further Reading:
- The ABC of Gender Equality in Education: Aptitude, Behaviour, Confidence
- Education and Skills Today – Why boys and girls still don’t have an equal chance at school by Marilyn Achiron
