Picking the right school is a choice that weighs heavily on many parent's minds. For some it's a decision between single sex and co-education. That's despite a decline in the number of all-boys and all-girls schools.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00From sport to the classroom, Villanova College has taught boys for more than 70 years.
00:07The principal says parents are drawn to schools that cater to their son's learning needs.
00:13Gender isn't attached to role models in a boys school.
00:16You're musicians, you're artists, you're academics, you're sports people.
00:21The school says boys are encouraged to respect women as leaders.
00:26Over 50% of our staff are female, over 50% of our leadership staff in terms of faculty.
00:32The female teachers here I think are incredible.
00:35Meanwhile, this Melbourne girl's school has no plans to become co-ed after 30 years of teaching.
00:41Having that daily role modelling of clever, capable women in positions of influence is really important.
00:49I do physics and chemistry and they're very male-dominated fields,
00:53so it's great to be able to study those at the school without having to worry about the gender gap.
00:58Barker College is one of many schools that has made the transition to co-ed.
01:03There was a lot of interest in a part of Sydney where there was perhaps not as many choices.
01:08He says the co-educational model educates students, not genders.
01:13We use the term here, together in learning, together in life, and that should start at the youngest age.
01:18There's no national database for the number of all-boys and all-girls schools,
01:23but it's estimated the number of single-sex schools across the country has dropped by 1% since 2008.
01:31There's no conclusive evidence that one type of schooling, single-sex or co-ed, yields better academic outcomes.
01:41Dr Kelly Burns says socio-economic status plays a more significant role in academic achievement.
01:47Independent schools who are considering going co-educational, I think they're responding to a changing market.
01:55The right answer is different for each student.