Are privileges given to girls affecting boys' performance?

Last week, Rwanda Education Board (REB) released the Primary Six and Senior Three examinations results, with figures showing that girls performed better than boys. The results indicate that out of 74,036 students who passed, 38,277 were girls, representing 51.7 per cent. Apart from the outstanding performance of girls, it is visible that different actors, including the Ministry of Education, had identified and set initiatives to promote prospects of girls at school. From the Girls’ Day and Workshops, adolescent girls’ initiative, a gender focal person that encourages girls to pursue vocational and technical studies, various seminars organised for girls and to finally the school-based clubs; girls are no longer afraid of competing with boys, later on perform better than them. On the other hand, these initiatives are creating mixed reactions, with some people asking whether this is affecting boys’ performance in one way or another. Others even say boys too need such drives if they are going to become more competitive in future. Mike Rutebuka, a construction student from Integrated Polytechnic Regional Centre Kigali, Kicukiro, says such initiatives have no big influence on them (boys); rather they are there to encourage girls. “Girls were in the past not given an opportunity to study because they were confined to home chores, and also getting married at an early age. It is therefore meaningful that girls need such opportunities to be empowered. Being given more opportunities should not affect us (boys). “The positive from all this is that girls have realised that they can do better, set academic goals and put more efforts into achieving their goals,” he says. Meanwhile, Ritah Umuhire, a Senior Six graduate from Kagarama Secondary School, notes that girls need such privileges so that they can have self-confidence. “Girls have been treated badly for very longtime which has reduced their self-esteem. So, it was necessary to have these initiatives in order to encourage them and as well make them believe that they are able to do anything they set their eyes on,” she said. However, not all people are in for supporting girls exclusively. Florence Mukantabana, a parent of four children in Kabuga, says, “To me, it’s becoming too unfair; my child last year missed out on being admitted to a good school because of the marks, yet all the girls who got the same marks were admitted. Girls have been given a lot of privileges and have many opportunities in their way at the expense of boys. There should be a revision in policies because boys are at a disadvantage.” What educationists say Aaron Butera, a teacher based in Kigali, notes that the influence is not that big, but again believes that it’s meaningful for the boys to be cared for as well. “My concern is that boys and men have not been cared for and that’s why we end up having bad fathers who don’t even know their responsibilities. It will show in the future when these boys get families. Campaigns for boys also matter, they have been neglected,” he says. A few decades ago, when it was realised that girls languished behind boys in academic performance, efforts were put to give them more support, with significant success. The question that many are now posing is that, shouldn’t it be possible to do the same for boys? “The academic decline might be there because you can’t have grade disparities and expect all people to perform at the same level. What we need to ask ourselves is what might we do to help boys improve and not stay behind? For instance, we can follow the example of other developed countries. They are experimenting with programmes to help boys become more organised, focused and engaged. These include more boy-friendly reading assignments, more recess (where boys can engage in rough-and-tumble as a respite from classroom routine); campaigns to encourage male literacy; more single-sex classes; and more male teachers (and female teachers interested in the pedagogical challenges boys pose),” Apollo Ndungutse, an educationist, notes.