The TES announced on Friday June the 18th that Gender equivalent exams were being considered for the future.
Positive feedback has been recieved by a number of schools regarding AQAs new key stage 4 qualifications in English, Maths and Science, with coursework options for Girls and more traditional exams aimed at boys.
The aim is to narrow the gap between the sexes, as traditionally girls out perform the boys on coursework and boys apparently do better than girls on exams…….
This opens up a range of issues, not least where do we start and end with Gender specific options….. nursery school to recriutment and employment?
Will considering gender differences take us back to the past or encourage sexist attitudes?
You could argue insurance companies have for years been gender specific with regards to life insurance ,car insurances etc…..
We know that girls outperform boys, especially during the primary school years in English and we do know that 80% of students excluded from both primary and secondry schools are boys………so things are not working for both in the same way
Clearly something needs to be done to address these issues but is this the right type of approach?
In an era of inclusion and also personalised learning to we need to revert back to the age old battle of sexes…………perhaps the answer is simply a greater choice of learning options and the freedom to make those choices…………
Can we trust girls and boys and Mums and Dads the freedom to make those choices?
Interested in your comments….
Fin