Writing Feedback / Education of boys & girls in separate schools; 'distracting and hamper progress' [4]

Hi. I would appreciate your kind comments on this topic of IELTS task2:

Some people think that it is better to educate boys and girls in separate schools. Others however believe that boys and girls benefit more from attending mixed schools. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.

Whether or not boys and girls should attend classes together has always been quite controversial. Numerous people consider that children tend to be distracted when they have members of the other sex in their class, whereas the main argument in favour of coeducation is that it helps children to prepare for their future life in society.

Young children get distracted very easily, since they are undergoing a stage of discovery. Teachers have to work hard to grab their attention, preventing them from playing while they are in lessons time. During this period, one of the factors which can alter more severely children's behaviour is the interaction with members of the opposite sex, due to the fact that rather than developing social skills, they just try to play. Furthermore, since this is the period when scholars acquire habits that will linger during most of their lives, it is advisable to focus their attention on academic subjects.

On the other hand, one of the main roles of schools is the preparation of children to tackle successfully with their lives in a social environment and that cannot be achieved without allowing them to socialize with members of the other sex. However, this relations will have a positive effect only provided that children are mature enough to understand and assimilate other people's outlook. Despite girls mellow sooner than boys, on average both have a minimum sense of social roles by the time they begin attending secondary school. Hence, the moment when they are ready to profit from this interaction is then. In fact, many academic institutions are single-six for primary school and coeducation for secondary. For instance, the school where I studied was only for boys until secondary school levels, when both boys and girls attended classes together.

To summarize, coeducation at early ages is distracting and prevents children from progressing adequately, whereas it is beneficial once children are mature enough to interact adequately with the other sex individuals. Hence, in my opinion primary schools should be single-sex while secondary schools should be mixed, in order to maximize pupils' education.