Female Supremacy Articles - Page 12

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Girls beat boys in infant classes

BBC News

Thursday, 24 June, 2004

Girls in England are ahead of boys in their educational achievements from the very earliest years, new figures show.

The first ever national statistics showing "foundation stage" attainment indicate more girls than boys met or exceeded the early learning goals.

The data are based on reception class teachers' assessments of their four and five year olds in 2003.

Teachers' unions have denounced the exercise as overly bureaucratic, unwieldy and unhelpful.

The Department for Education and Skills stresses that the figures, relating to more than half a million children, are "experimental".

Personal development They come from 12-page paper booklets teachers have to fill in, making 117 separate judgements of what children can do.

These are grouped into 13 categories under headings such as personal, social and emotional development and mathematical development.

In every single category, the 2003 results show, girls are on average ahead of boys in meeting or exceeding the goals - as is the case throughout England's school system in almost every subject.

The difference is biggest in the personal, social and emotional development categories, where the gaps are 12 or 13 percentage points.

The other big gap is in their writing ability - 12 points on average.

Only in knowledge and understanding of the world do boys come close, though there is still a gap of two percentage points.

So, it's a woman's world