Girls in China outshining boys in academic achievements

Girls in China have been outshining the boys in academic achievements and experts said it is a worrying sign that can have negative long term effects on society.

Sixteen-year-old Wu Yifan is a high school student enrolled in an all-boys’ class in central Shanghai.

It is the first of its kind at a public school in China and was started last year when studies found that boys were struggling to keep up with the girls in class – a situation that Wu used to face when he was in a co-ed class.

“The pressure sometimes got so big till we wonder ‘Why are all the top 10 students in class all girls? Are they better than us?’ So it got to a point when we’ll start finding excuses like how girls are just naturally better than boys. Even public opinion now has it as females being sharper than males and that gives us more excuses,” said Wu.

Between 2006 and 2007, 65 per cent of China’s top national scholarships went to girls.

And in 2010, 330,000 more girls gained entry into universities over the boys.

Sociologist Zhou Haiwang who conducted the studies said it is a worrying trend.

“More and more outstanding women are unable to find suitable partners. This is also a result of women outshining men,” said the deputy director at Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.

Many put the blame on China’s education system which stresses on rote-learning and obedience – qualities which girls are said to be better at.

Others said it is the patriarchal Chinese society which has spoilt the boys in China.

In the hope of finding better ways to teach boys, one public school in Shanghai started two all-male classes in 2011 and lessons include more physical activities and hands-on problem-solving elements.

Lu Qisheng, Principal of Shanghai No.8 Senior High School, said: “If we can, through the all-boys’ class, find better teaching methods for boys, we can then implement them in co-ed schools and cultivate better male students.”

The school said it has seen results. More boys from the two classes have become the school’s top 20 scorers in the past six months.

Wu said his studies have improved tremendously and credited it to the healthy competition he gets from being in an all-boys class.

While China’s current education system may appear to favour the girls and allow them to outshine the boys in school, few of the country’s top political and corporate leaders are female.

Women are generally discriminated against in the workplace and studies have shown that they earn 10 per cent lesser than men and get fewer opportunities at promotion.

It is one of the reasons driving girls to work harder in school so that they can possibly stand a better chance in the workforce later in life.

Looks like they should reverse the one child policy!?