To: Norma Foley, Minister for Education
Make all Irish schools mixed-sex
Make all Irish schools mixed-sex.
There is no academic advantage to single-sexed schools. Let all children integrate with each other and learn from each other.
School is about education, not your genitalia.
Norma Foley, Minister for Education, is responsible for this change.
Why is this important?
Single-sex schools provide no academic advantage, as study finds. *
The findings are based on an analysis of data from nearly 5,000 15 year olds in Ireland which examined the association between attending a single-sex school and performance in maths, reading and science.
There was no difference in maths, science or reading performance for 15-year-old students after adjusting for the background of the student and other school-level factors. This result was found for both boys and girls.
There are multiple reports of single-sexed school being responsible for teenagers to not be well integrated with the other gender.
Psychologists also say girls in single-sex schools are more likely to suffer from social or emotional problems. There is more pressure to perform in single-sexed school, especially for girls.
Stop the divide. Let all Irish children learn together.
* https://bera-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/berj.3841
** https://www.irishtimes.com/news/education/the-problem-with-all-girls-schools-1.3399028
*** Additional notes: https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/education/2023/02/22/single-sex-schools-provide-no-academic-advantage-study/