Lesson of exercise still to be learned

There has always been much more to learning than just studying academic subjects. School should prepare pupils for all aspects of life.

Girls achieved better overall results in the recent Leaving Certificate than boys, whom they outperformed in Irish, English, languages, maths, physics, biology and chemistry. The only subjects where boys did better were those in which comparatively few girls sat the Leaving Certificate.

Physiologically, girls mature faster than boys, which affords them a natural academic ability by secondary school. This is reflected throughout the Western world.