Under performance of males needs to be addressed

The underperformance of males in the educational system needs to be addressed and taken seriously.

This comment was made by Senator, the Hon. Alwin Adams, as he delivered his remarks during the launch of the 70th anniversary celebrations of the Erdiston Teachers’ Training College, which took place at the institution yesterday morning.

“In Barbados we must wake up to the findings of researchers, who tell us that the differences between boys and girls are real, pervasive and multifaceted,” he said.

“These differences manifest themselves at a very early age and tend to widen if not tackled at critical stages. They include rates of physical and sexual maturation, acquisition of language and linguistic competencies.”

He revealed that students requiring an extra year are most likely to come from groups of students scoring less than 20 and reported that in 1994, of these 412 students requiring an extra year, 309 of them were boys and in the following year, of the 535 students requiring an extra year, 482 of them were boys.

“This is neither a one-off affair nor is it an aberration. What it is, is incontrovertible evidence that there is something wrong with the way we are dealing with boys in the school,” he said.
Senator Adams challenged the Principal and the staff of the College to be the change agent and work towards finding solutions for this problem.

“Here again, this time honoured institution, rooted in history, is being called upon to lead the way. You are the change agent. Challenge the status quo,” he said.

He went on to congratulate the institution for reaching 70 years of life and congratulated the College for the role they have helped played in developing the society of Barbados over the past 70 years.

“On the celebration of your 70th anniversary I want to say that if we were to examine the influences brought to bear on modern Barbadian society, the role played by Erdiston Teachers’ Training College looms large,” he said.

“Your College has done more than any other tertiary institution to set the attitudes and to determine the values of the leaders of modern Barbadian society.”