Women are from Venus...

The Principal of Cheltenham Ladies' College has made a case for more single-sex schools, stressing the point that boys and girls learn in different ways and are stimulated educationally by different things, and therefore need to be taught in separate environments. Whilst she may be right about this, in my mind a great part of what schools are all about is preparing their pupils for life in the real world, and there is a danger that any educational advantage produced by separating the sexes will be more than nullified by the disadvantage to their ability to socially interact. I speak from some experience - I went to an all-boys school, and there is no doubt in my mind that this made it far more difficult for me in my teenage years to form easy friendships with girls - I reckon in this respect I was some two or three years behind my peers who had gone to mixed-sex schools. So it is a matter of which is more important - academic success or social abilities.