Co-ed schools won't cure society's ills, says principal

The higher education minister has said he wants to see an end to single-sex schools, stating 'society would be better' with a co-educational model of learning.

Changing to a co-educational model of learning would deny parents and pupils the freedom of choice, some school leaders have said.

It comes as the higher education minister said he wants to see an end to single-sex schools, stating "society would be better" with a co-educational model of learning.

Raising concerns around increasing "aggression" and gender-based violence, Patrick O'Donovan stressed the importance of educational integration from a young age.

In an interview with the Irish Examiner, Mr O'Donovan said: ​"If the first time that you come in contact with somebody from the opposite gender in your education journey is your first day in university at Freshers Week, that to me is absolutely crazy in 2024."

Mr O'Donovan said having a system which segregates boys and girls is not serving children or society at large. "What I am saying is that I think there needs to be, at a much earlier stage, an integration around education to show that respect has to be something that is shown no matter what."

'Positives'

However, principal of Dublin all-girls Alexandra College, Barbara Ennis, said single-sex schools should be protected as there are "lots of positives" to all-boys or all-girls schools.

She said: “His rationale, while it sounds very noble, is looking to schools to cure the ills of society — I don't agree with him."

She claimed that single-sex schools have already been phased out by the Government through a move of "not supporting the setting up of any single-sex schools".

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Between 2014 and the start of this year 36 single-sex secondary schools had either amalgamated or closed down while 35 new mixed post-primary schools opened.

Ms Ennis added: “With boys’ schools, there’s a lot of talk about toxic masculinity, but boys are going to be boys no matter where they are; it’s about how they’re brought up by their parents.

"Increasingly our society does look to schools to cure every single ill, and it's a much bigger thing than that, it's a societal thing. 

While schools obviously do play a big role in young people's lives and in their formation, it's what happens at home and it's what happens up to the age of seven that makes the big difference, not after that. 

"Most people come to the age of reason at the age of seven, they develop sexually at a later stage, but their view of how they treat people are well formed at the age of seven."

Speaking to Ocean FM News, Sean Wynne, a former vice principal in a mixed school said parents should be given the "freedom of choice".

"Personally I would say mixed schools would be the most suitable, but others may feel that single-sex schools are the best option." He cautioned against "change for the sake of change".

Safe

An Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland (ASTI) spokesperson said that regardless of school type, teachers and school managements work to create school communities where young people can feel safe and respected.

"Wellbeing education in second-level schools — including Social Personal Health Education (SPHE) and Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) — deals robustly with topics such as diversity and respect for all, consent, healthy and positive sexual expression in relationships, pornography, LGBTQ+ and responsible citizenship," the spokesperson said.