Thursday, April 04, 2013

46 million children receive single-sex education in 70 countries worldwide "We meet with each student every three or four weeks, with parents, three times during the academic year, but these meetings often defer to another date if the father and mother can not go together. We have found that schools that educate boys and girls in separate classrooms enjoy better academic results", says Dobrochna Lama, Strumienie's school headmistress in Józefów, a village near Warsaw (Poland). The relentless spread across the globe of this educational option has been reviewed in the III International Congress of EASSE on single-sex education, held in Warsaw, organized by the European Association of single-sex Education (EASSE). According to EASSE, about 46 million students receive single-sex education in 242,000 schools in 70 countries around the world. In the United States, the development of single-sex education has been spectacular, especially in public schools, with more than 2,000 centers where this educational model is used. In particular, in South Carolina, 34% of public schools have established this educational system, with great success. It is a solution to problems such as school failure, the "bullying" and unwanted pregnancies. In Spain, 81,000 students take courses in 184 centers of single-sex education, of which 109 have economic concerts for public funding. Almost all are of Christian inspiration. However, some of its advocates lament the prejudices that exist about this educational model. One of the aspirations of EASSE is that single-sex education can also be hold in public schools. In countries such as Ireland and the UK, educating boys and girls in separate classrooms is a pedagogical model that has existed since the nineteenth century and is not disputed. Moreover, these centers are synonymous with prestige. Those in the UK are among the best in the world. Ireland has introduced single-sex education in 40% of the secondary schools and all them receive public subsidies, explained David Nolan, director of Dublin's school Rockbrook. In France the law specifies that single-sex education does not mean any kind of discrimination. In Germany, "the Constitution not only does not prohibit single-sex education, but admits it" said Werner Neumann, Judge President of the Senate of the Federal Administrative Court based in Leipzig. The judgment of the highest court ended six years of administrative proceedings, a contentious that had already passed through two previous courts, which ruled in favor of single-sex education. Author and journalist Clemente Ferrer has led a distinguished career in Spain in the fields of publicity and press relations. He is currently President of the European Institute of Marketing. clementeferrer3@gmail.com

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