Been busy these last couple of days... winding down of the first half of the semester, SPM results to analyze at school (and it's still not completed yet), my own boy's to deal with also, friends around for the week....
Back to boys vs girls... and the girls are winning. Girls scored 4.94 on the National Average Grade while boys scored 5.79 in this year's SPM... The lower grade indicates better performance. 9 is the maximum, indicating an F (Fail). This is the second year in a row the gals have trounced the boys... and it doesn't feel like it is relenting.
I teach boys and gals. And every year, I find more boys languishing more by the year. It's not they are getting dumber but the girls are just coping better with the current system. Our system has evolved into a system where academic results matter more than anything else. All students are supposed to be involved in co-curricular activities, but they don't seem to do much good to majority of the students. Sports, games are on the decline in most schools. Boys' upheaval in the crucial teen age years (15-17) seems more difficult to manage these days... reasoning just doesn't seem to work with marginal minds.
Which brings me back to the boys' performance in major public exams. Boys seem to be coping less well. This present system requires long hours of mugging and they seem to find it difficult to do just that. They are more boisterous, active and difficult to 'control'. All these can be positive energy but what we seem to be getting now is detrimental to themselves... generally.
And it doesn't help that there are tuitions... they benefit the girls more too I feel. Tuitions consolidate stuff for the girls. Used to be the boys would cope better with the 'logical' subjects. But these days, even if they do cope better, it's not going to make them do better than the girls cos the girls with their willingness to mug will consolidate their understanding into better scores. Boys lose again!
There was one year I had an all-girls' class for my F5 Science class. And that was the easiest year to teach. It was easier to get them to see the reason for most things... compliance was high.
I notice many boys tend to go 'sesat' around 15-16 years old. This is the time, when many of them will give us all sorts of problems. It usually takes about a year for them to come to their senses and by the time they do, they are already left quite far behind. The task of catching up becomes daunting and many give up.
Schools lack good male role models. Robust activities are needed for these kids to spend their energy but these days, it's getting less as the focus shifts to studies. Even here, our premier all-boys school don't do as well as the all-girls school. I used to think maybe it's just a local thing but the recent studies show it has become a general condition.
So boys and exams.... I think what we're facing now is what can be labelled as testosterone induced situation.... my experience from both spectrum.
Back to boys vs girls... and the girls are winning. Girls scored 4.94 on the National Average Grade while boys scored 5.79 in this year's SPM... The lower grade indicates better performance. 9 is the maximum, indicating an F (Fail). This is the second year in a row the gals have trounced the boys... and it doesn't feel like it is relenting.
I teach boys and gals. And every year, I find more boys languishing more by the year. It's not they are getting dumber but the girls are just coping better with the current system. Our system has evolved into a system where academic results matter more than anything else. All students are supposed to be involved in co-curricular activities, but they don't seem to do much good to majority of the students. Sports, games are on the decline in most schools. Boys' upheaval in the crucial teen age years (15-17) seems more difficult to manage these days... reasoning just doesn't seem to work with marginal minds.
Which brings me back to the boys' performance in major public exams. Boys seem to be coping less well. This present system requires long hours of mugging and they seem to find it difficult to do just that. They are more boisterous, active and difficult to 'control'. All these can be positive energy but what we seem to be getting now is detrimental to themselves... generally.
And it doesn't help that there are tuitions... they benefit the girls more too I feel. Tuitions consolidate stuff for the girls. Used to be the boys would cope better with the 'logical' subjects. But these days, even if they do cope better, it's not going to make them do better than the girls cos the girls with their willingness to mug will consolidate their understanding into better scores. Boys lose again!
There was one year I had an all-girls' class for my F5 Science class. And that was the easiest year to teach. It was easier to get them to see the reason for most things... compliance was high.
I notice many boys tend to go 'sesat' around 15-16 years old. This is the time, when many of them will give us all sorts of problems. It usually takes about a year for them to come to their senses and by the time they do, they are already left quite far behind. The task of catching up becomes daunting and many give up.
Schools lack good male role models. Robust activities are needed for these kids to spend their energy but these days, it's getting less as the focus shifts to studies. Even here, our premier all-boys school don't do as well as the all-girls school. I used to think maybe it's just a local thing but the recent studies show it has become a general condition.
So boys and exams.... I think what we're facing now is what can be labelled as testosterone induced situation.... my experience from both spectrum.
5 comments:
so what do you suggest? we adapt to the system well and become "less guy", or develop into the man we are suppose to and do not so well in the system?
Make some changes.. it's not about being more guy or less guy. It should be something that is more holistic. Academic achievement does not necessarily translate into success in life later, that I am sure. Like I said... something to do with the system also - lack of good role models, good ethics. More activities should be carried out - physical stuff like games and sports. They're fun and teach us many things in very practical sense.... unlike Moral Studies which make us into 'hypocrites'. That would probably not only be good for the boys but also the girls. My 2 sen.
so what? the older i get the more i feel that doing well in grades pales to the discipline and character one builds in school. just look around... is the a correlation between grades and how well one does in life (not just wealth)?
daboss... I agree wholeheartedly with you. I think we're raising a generation on quick fixes. The character and discipline building are lost somewhere in these quick fixes. But to build character and discipline we need people with that too....
.............as long as we are not raising a generation of children who are unable to think for themselves!
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