COEDUCATION PROS AND CONS

Mixed schools under the spotlight

BY Goolbai Gunasekara

Irecently wrote that I’d not choose coeducation for myself. And I wonder if others feel likewise? My reasons have nothing to do with gender bias or preconceived ideas about misbehaviour between the sexes. It is simply a matter of personal comfort.

I’m happier studying with my own sex. Social life, which included boys, did not intrude into schools of my youth.

Perhaps I am no judge since I’ve never been in a coeducational institution despite my attendance at nine schools in three countries. Since then – as principal of an international school – I have been able to study the question closely and it only reinforces my view that coeducation is not all that it’s cracked up to be.

In Grades 1, 2 and 3, girls and boys tend to separate in the interval and play among their own sex. Girls prefer to play gentler games; and as they move up to grades 4, 5 and 6, this type of free time activity intensifies the differences.

At the end of the interval, the boys are quite sweaty and dusty, while girls tend to remain cool and neat. So there is an immediate separation in seating arrangements. Girls wrinkle up their little noses at their perspiring classmates.

Listen to a delegation from Grade 4…

“Why do you want to change your desk, Jayanthi?” I ask, after the form teacher has alerted me about complaints from the girls.

“Nihal is dirty!”

“I had a bath before school, Miss,” protests Nihal.

The trouble is obvious. Boys do tend to get hot and somewhat dishevelled after playtime. Girls prefer to stay unruffled.

I am not taking into account the few tomboys who have a good time either way. Both sexes are physically more comfortable seated with their own gender as desks are close and sometimes arranged in pairs for space considerations.

In Sri Lanka, parents tend to expect a ‘just in case’ sort of school patrol since they assume the sexes need constant surveillance. This is not really so. The trouble is that American and British movies highlight appalling teenage behaviour in their countries, making parents in Sri Lanka feel apprehensive.

After all, those who can afford to copy the Western style of dressing do so with panache. What else will they copy is the question with which principals concern themselves! Obviously, Western teenage behaviour would not be tolerated in Sri Lanka at the moment. We take courtesy to teachers for granted.

Not so in the UK. I have heard some horror stories from Sri Lankan teachers who have returned from Britain. I’m not talking about expensive private schools of the West, which are every bit as strict with regard to behaviour as we tend to be in Sri Lanka.

Another disadvantage of coeducation is that there is a certain gender distraction as students proceed from lower to middle school.

That last year of middle school is very trying for teachers. Students begin having hormonal problems; and suddenly, that nice biddable boy or girl is transformed into a different being. In a single-sex school, it’s much easier for teachers to deal with these problems.

Girls generally have a bosom buddy and an all girl clique of friends. Likewise, boys begin to be aware of their sexual urges. Physical changes occur in both genders. I noticed there was a change of behaviour, a slight attitudinal drawing away, between the two sexes in their teens. Certainly, private affairs and feelings were gender-based. Each sex had their distinctive outlooks.

Of course, kids have learned to blend well and managed to maintain their longstanding camaraderie. But I noticed how difficult it was for new students who suddenly found themselves in a coeducational environment.

After about Grade 8, it required adjustment. It wasn’t always easy. Going from a ‘girl to girl’ or ‘boy to boy’ school was so much more natural than changing to coeducation midway through schooling.

After A-Levels comes university life, which is usually coeducational and has to be dealt with. By then, students are more mature and able to function without difficulty. I am generalising, of course. There are many children who do not fall into my categories but I feel they’re the exceptions. Given the choice, the two genders may actually prefer single-sex schools.

I cannot pass judgement on a betterment of the learning process. There are those who would argue that gender competition benefits both sexes. Perhaps it does. In parts of the ancient world certainly, women attended learning centres and studied alongside men.

Alas, discrimination reared its ugly head in the Middle Ages and women were banned from further study until quite recently. Today, most modern countries allow equality of educational opportunities. Hopefully, gender bias will be a thing of the past.

Nonetheless, my personal vote will always go to single-sex education by preference.