Single-sex or co-ed schools?

I read with great interest Michael Chittenden's article (The Sunday Times, January 25) defending the single-sex school system in preference to the co-educational system. This debate has been going on for many years and one could easily quote in defence of either position.

I will not quote but relate my own experience of 39 years. I taught and administered for 30 years in boys' schools and for the last nine years at St Michael Foundation - a co-ed school. We must be extremely careful when looking for reasons why both systems sometimes fail to deliver. To blame shortcomings on gender is too simplistic. I see very little evidence of poor academic achievement due to the mixing of sexes.

What produces good grades has more to do with student application, parental support, effective teaching, a caring environment and an efficient administration. Since I've been heading a co-ed school, I've seen 100 per cent passes in English language (grades 1-5 in SEC), 98 per cent in physics, 94 per cent in biology, 92 per cent in chemistry and so on. It is enough to say that in last year's mathematics paper, which was considered to be extremely challenging by most, our students achieved an 84 per cent pass rate.

I am not citing these figures to boast because I am sure that when I was at the boys' school we had similar results. What I am trying to say is that good academic results can certainly be achieved in a co-ed school. I am sure that other similar schools on the island can endorse this.

There is, however, the social aspect to consider. Is it healthier for boys and girls to progress together and learn to appreciate their differences and similarities and, most of all, their equality? It is great to see that the top student one year is a boy and in another year it is a girl. It is good to see both sexes competing in team and individual sports, in drama, in dance, in cookery as well as in all the other academic subjects.

I also organise weekend live-ins, which are also mixed. To date they have been wholesome experiences and they have produced great insights about life in general and relationships in particular, both from the female and the male perspective.

I have a few more years of service to give and I will feel privileged to be able to do it in the present co-ed school.