Female Supremacy Articles - Page 5

Screen 14 of 14

There is also an effort to keep pregnant girls at school, he says, instead of expelling them.

Three of the five matric exemptions at Petrusville Secondary School last year were achieved by girls.

Amos Ngqameni, principal of Qhayiya Secondary School in Zwelihle, near the Western Cape seaside resort of Hermanus, agrees that fewer girls drop out of his school, possibly because boys are more susceptible to drugs and alcohol. But many of his top female pupils cannot afford tertiary education and end up working in restaurants, he says.

The experts say more research needs to be done on sex ratios at schools, on providing career guidance for girls at tertiary institutions and on the reasons rural boys are dropping out. "The whole world is saying: 'Look after and educate your girls,' but we've got a different situation in South Africa [where boys are less successful]," says Valentine.

"Maybe we're already feeling the effects of men feeling disempowered and they are turning to crime or abusing women."