‘Co-ed schooling is often a problem for girls and boys’

Girls and boys at San Anton School line up alongside one another, their blazers and bows turning the assembly hall into a postcard for mixed-gender education. Here, there is broad agreement among teachers, students and parents that the school’s co-educational system has served alumni well over the past two decades. But replicating this model throughout the secondary school system without adequate preparation would just not work, a leading education expert has warned. “All international research points to the conclusion that co-ed and mixing is often a problem for both girls and boys,” education lecturer Mary Darmanin said. According to Prof. Darmanin, in such mixed-gender classrooms boys tended to shun reading, considered ‘feminine’, while girls shied away from science subjects, something also highlighted by science academic Deborah Chetcuti. “Some authors suggest that in a co-ed class, boys... tend to dominate the science activities and take the lead in practical work while girls were likely to be more passive,” said Prof. Chetcuti, who used to head the University’s department of maths, science and technical education. Come September, Pembroke secondary school will begin its...