Boys and girls: redressing the balance

GEORGETOWN, Guyana - According to a recent international study conducted by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), teachers are giving girls higher marks than boys in school-based assessments, not simply because they are brighter but because they are being rewarded for such attributes as attentiveness, eagerness and organisational skills. The study also suggests that socio-economically advantaged students fare better than their less fortunate peers.
The OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), which was started in 1997, aims to evaluate education systems in more than 70 countries around the world by testing the skills and knowledge of 15-year-old students. Guyana has not participated in PISA and, indeed, of Caribbean countries, only Trinidad and Tobago has, although no specific data or reports for that country are available on the OECD/PISA website.
In recent years, the little data available for Guyana and the Caribbean, as well as anecdotal evidence, would seem to suggest that, even though there is universal access to primary and secondary education, girls are outperforming boys at secondary school entrance examinations and at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC). In addition, boys are more likely than girls to drop out of secondary school and it seems that more girls than boys are now going on to university.