MERSEYSIDE girls are putting boy classmates to shame when it comes to grasping the three Rs.
New statistics show that seven-year-old boys across the region are lagging behind the girls in terms of mastering the classroom basics such as reading and writing.
Last night, education chiefs said the “gender gap” was a concern after Key Stage 1 tables released yesterday showed girls in Liverpool, Sefton, Knowsley, Wirral, Halton, St Helens and Cheshire have out performed their male classmates in the annual reading, writing, maths and science tests.
The gap between boys and girls is so severe in some disciplines that the number of girls managing the expected benchmark was more than 12% higher than the opposite sex.
The gap between the two sexes, which mirrors the national picture, comes as government figures show pupils across the region have mostly maintained or improved on last year’s efforts.
Cllr Peter Dowd, Sefton’s cabinet member for education, said he was pleased the borough’s pupils were beating the national average in all areas after annual rises in reading, writing, maths and science.
But he admitted it was a concern that girls appeared to be pulling away.
He said: “It may be the girls feel there are much more opportunities now and forging ahead.
“Young men may not have the same drive.
“It is an issue of concern that there is this developing gender gap and it suggests we need to be more pro-active with young male pupils than we have been.”
Richard Knights is a primary school teacher in Knowsley which finds itself ever closer to the national average after improvements in all disciplines.
He said girls tended “to pick things up more quickly” but echoed calls from teaching unions that the tests should go the same way as those taken by 14-year-olds which the government abolished in 2008.
He said: “Even at the age of seven you can see the stress on the children’s faces.
“Schools and teachers know they will be judged on the tests and that is communicated to the children. Some girls tend to mature more quickly than boys and when it comes to things like reading and writing pick things up more quickly.
“The boys may be more interested in playing.
“But it is about readiness to learn.
“Tests aged seven is too early to judge children, you are effectively teaching to test and it is detrimental to the children’s development.”
Schools Secretary Ed Balls has stressed that while SATs in their present form are not “set in stone” there are no plans to abolish the tests.
