Colman Noctor: Students say they want co-ed schools, so why aren’t we listening?

The prevalence of single-sex schools is a unique feature of the Irish second-level education system. This is likely due to the influence of the Catholic Church, writes Dr Colman Noctor

Most students in single-sex schools said they would prefer their school to be co-educational, while students in co-educational schools said they wanted their schools to remain as they are, according to an ESRI report

The university cafeteria where I work was packed last week with secondary school students attending the campus for an open day. They were likely fifth-year students on a school trip to explore future courses and career paths. 

Three schools were represented: One all-boys school, an all-girls school, and a co-educational school. As they tucked into their chicken fillet rolls and wedges, I was impressed by how the co-educational students comfortably chatted and laughed together. They were louder than their single-sex peers and were sitting together as opposed to in twos and threes like the others.