More schools move from single-sex to accept boys and girls
THERE is a growing trend of singlesex schools switching to becoming co-educational, the Department of Education has revealed.
New figures released today show that 25 primary and post-primary schools have made to the move to accept both girls and boys since 2020.
Sources in the department said the rate of change has rapidly accelerated in recent years. Celbridge, Co. Kildare, has seen both its single-sex girls and boys’ primaries change to admit both genders, meaning all of the busy commuter town’s six primary schools are now mixed.
Analysts say the move towards mixed schools nationwide is often due to parental demand – parents like their sons and daughters to be able to attend the same primary or secondary school. They also want a broad range of subjects for their children. Some single-sex boys’ schools may not offer home economics while girls’ schools may not offer subjects such as woodwork or construction studies.
But there are other communities where parents are happy with their single-sex schools for boys or girls, as they are performing well and there is no push to change.
There is usually a consultation process to gather the views of local parents. Any application for a change of status must be first approved by the school patron – often the local Catholic bishop. The next step in the process is for the school patron to submit a change of status request to the Department of Education.
The department cannot change the status of any school from single-sex to co-ed without the agreement of the patron.
The Department of Education has said it looks favourably on requests for schools to change to co-ed. However, requests can be denied if it will cause a lack of places for boys or girls in the area where the school is.
For example, if a town had two boys’ schools and just one girls’ school, then a change by the girls’ school could result in a shortage of places for girls.
Education Minister Norma Foley last week visited a school in Dublin, St Mary’s secondary school for girls in Baldoyle, which is changing to co-ed in September
No variation in performance
and will enrol boys in first year.
Research by the University of Limerick (UL) last year showed no significant variation in performance among girls or boys in single-sex schools compared to their mixed-school peers in science, maths or reading.
Dr Darragh Flannery of UL, said: ‘There is limited evidence around the relationship between attending a single-sex school and academic performance.’
The analysis showed significant raw gaps in reading, science and maths performance, with pupils in single-sex schools performing better than those in mixed schools. But once the researchers applied factors such as the socioeconomic background of the student and whether or not the school was disadvantaged, these gaps narrowed dramatically.