Schools tackle problem of underachieving boys |04 December 2008

The project was launched by the Commonwealth a little over a year ago in India, Malaysia, Trinidad and Tobago, and Seychelles to deal with gender issues in schools.

Recently a group – consisting of two teachers from Anse Boileau secondary and two representatives from the Ministry of Education – attended a workshop to share information they have gathered with the other countries taking part.

The meeting took place at the University of East Anglia in the United Kingdom late last month.

According to Anse Boileau headteacher Marie-Celine Albert, the exchange of information showed Seychelles does not have the problem of girls not having access to education, but rather of boys not doing so well at school.

She says this is quite contrary to what the other countries taking part in the project have found.
Ms Albert says to change this negative trend, her school is including boys in all its activities.

“In the past, when we asked students to take part in quizzes we always had the girls eager to take part while the boys preferred to watch from afar,” she said.

Now the school has taken a gender-conscious approach when dealing with the S1 students – there is an equal balance between the number of boys and girls in the classroom and even the seating arrangements reflect the school’s new policy.
Ms Albert also says school staff have been told to avoid sexist remarks such as: “You’re a boy, you should be able to handle such and such a situation.”

She says such comments and other expectations from society help cement gender stereotypes and stop the boys from moving forward.

Research carried out the year before shows boys tend to have a laissez-faire attitude they carry on all through their lives.

“We at Anse Boileau had to make the project involve all parents in order to guarantee its success, and we are starting to see small changes in the way boys perform at school,” says Ms Albert.

In fact the school’s exam results shows boys have improved, especially in subjects like French that were once considered “girly”.

Ms Albert says although it will take some time to get people to change the way they think about gender issues, the progress made at her school gives her hope.

Talks are being held with the ministry about using the successful elements of the research in schools nationally.