Motion 4

(Pro English )

The question as to whether to educate your children in a single sex or mixed school can be a
sticking point for some families. Sometimes parents are keen for their children to have a single-sex
education, but (especially older) children are equally as keen to use their school day time to meet
friends of the opposite sex.

There are more single-sex Private Schools than state maintained schools - most of these are co-
educational. Every year when the league tables of exam results frequently show that girls perform
better, the debate about the relative benefits and drawbacks of educating children - especially girls
- erupts. This article will take a look at the issues you might want to consider.

The Benefits of Single Sex Schools

Single sex schools are popular within faith schools and some schools who believe there are
associated academic benefits. Supporters believe that single sex schools help students to focus on
their studies - this is especially important, some educationalists believe, for teenagers for whom
single sex schools help to avoid the attractions of the opposite sex. Proponents on single sex
schools believe that children can become extra competitive when the two genders study together
and believe that students may be more inclined to experience relationships with the opposite sex
earlier if they are studying alongside them.

A single sex education might also lead students to be less embarrassed about potentially gender-
orientated decisions - females might be keener to study maths, for example, or males to study art.
Learning differences are also well known to differ between female and male students, so these
differences might be exploited for positive effects in single sex schools.
Drawbacks of Mixed Schools

There is some research that reports that girls do better in single sex schools - so for girls attending
mixed schools, this may be a disadvantage. However, obviously this again depends on the personal
nature of each individual student.