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The establishing of Single Gender Schools
The Ministry of Education is proposing to establish single gender schools in selected jurisdictions as part of its strategy to improve the performance of all students. The Ministry holds the philosophical position that every child can learn. The Ministry acknowledges that students learn in different ways but it also believes that there are discernable differences in the manner in which boys and girls assimilate information. This initiative reflects the Ministry’s position that an approach that is gender-sensitive, within the context of a broader pedagogical strategy will improve the performance of male students and enhance the performance of female students.
The Project will be piloted in the twenty secondary schools listed below. It should be noted that these schools are in close proximity to each other. These currently co-ed schools will be converted on a phased basis to single gender schools over a period of five years. Commencing with the 2010 SEA placement process, Form 1 students will be assigned to single-sex classes in the under-mentioned schools. By 2015, as is indicated below, ten schools would have been converted to male only and ten schools would be converted to female only. It must be noted that when most of these schools were established, the societal and educational aims of providing girls with the same opportunities as boys underpinned the move to co-education schools worldwide. Providing same opportunities is not necessarily best served by placement in the same class.
The conversion will only be applicable from Form 1 through 5. Both sets of schools will be classified as 5 year schools. However, accommodations will be made for a joint sixth form between the neighbouring male and female schools in all jurisdictions. These neighbouring schools will allow for sharing of resources and programmes, particularly at the sixth form level.
The selected schools are:
|
Proposed for Boys |
Proposed for Girls |
| Mucurapo East Secondary School |
Mucurapo West Secondary School |
| Barataria South Secondary School |
Barataria North Secondary School |
| El Dorado East Secondary School |
El Dorado West Secondary School |
| Chaguanas North Secondary School |
Chaguanas South Secondary School |
| Carapichaima East Secondary School |
Carapichaima West Secondary School |
| Marabella North Secondary School |
Marabella South Secondary School |
| Pleasantville Secondary School |
San Fernando East Secondary School |
| Barrackpore West Secondary School |
Barrackpore East Secondary School |
| Siparia West Secondary School |
Siparia East Secondary School |
| Princess Town West Secondary School |
Princess Town East Secondary School |
The Case of Single Gender Schools
Professor John Spencer's Study: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
David Subran Phd (Education)
http://guardian.co.tt/commentary/letters/2010/03/23/research-supports-single-sex-schools
Greg Baksh (Opinion)
http://www.newsday.co.tt/letters/0,117737.html
Regional Caribbean Conference on Keeping Boys Out of Risk/ Boys Underachievement in Education http://www.unicef.org/lac/Keeping_Boys_out_of_Risk_Report.pdf
Cambridge University Study (Raising Boys’ Achievement a study funded by Department for Education and Skills.)
http://www-rba.educ.cam.ac.uk/Executive%20Summary.pdf
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