Discovered, from the UN agency UNESCOFollow-up analyzes primary and secondary education in 120 countries.
Although boys perform better than girls in this subject during the early years, This gender gap disappears in high school – even in the world’s poorest countries – the researchers found.
The girls in the lead
Some countries even see girls doing better than boys in math, including Malaysia, where at age 14, girls lead 7% ahead of boys, Cambodia (3%) and Philippines (1.4%).
Despite this progress, the United Nations educational, cultural and scientific agency, warns that gender”Prejudice and prejudice”will continue to affect girls’ schoolingbecause boys are “most likely to be exceeded” at the highest math levels, across all countries.
The issue extends to the realm of science, with data from middle- and high-income countries showing that although girls in high school score significantly higher in scientific studies, the children are still less likely to choose careers in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math, and STEM subjects. .
Chapter of girls and verses
While the girls are good at math and science, they show even more proficiency in readingwith many of them reaching a minimum reading proficiency level than boys.
The biggest gap in primary education is in Saudi Arabia, says UNESCO, where 77% of girls but only 51% of boys in grade 4 (9-10 years old) achieve a minimum reading proficiency level. .
In Thailand, girls outnumber boys by 18 percentage points, in the Dominican Republic by 11 points and in Morocco by 10 points.
Even in countries where girls and boys are at the same level of reading in the early grades – as in Lithuania and Norway – at the age of 15, girls are about 15 percentage points ahead of boys.
“Malala Yousafzai says:, co-founder of the Malala Foundation, cited by UNESCO. “But many people, and especially the most disadvantaged, do not have the opportunity to learn. We should not be afraid of this potential.
“We should feed it and watch it grow. For example, it’s heartbreaking that most girls in Afghanistan don’t get the chance to show the world their skills,”
“While more data are needed, recent releases have helped paint a global picture of the gender gap in learning outcomes,” said Manos Antoninis, Director of UNESCO’s Global Education Monitoring Report. right before the pandemic”.
“Girls are doing better than boys in reading and science and are catching up in math. But they are still less likely to become top performers in math because biases and stereotypes persist. We need gender equality in learning and ensure that everyone learns to their full potential.”
