Coeducational schools
(Sent by Máximo Viñas, a student from Jaén, Spain)

An issue that is often debated nowadays is that of the relative advantages or disadvantages of co-educational schools as opposed to single-sex schools. By way of introduction, we can say that both types of educational establishments have their own specific features and hence cannot be considered as better or worse than each other.

It has been frequently said that students in single-sex schools obtain better academic results than students in co-educational schools, but this argument is not at all a proven fact.

My personal opinion on the matter is that single-sex schools are often elitist schools in which parents have to pay fees and only wealthy people can have their children studying there. On the other hand, these institutions frequently have much better facilities and resources than comprehensive or co-educational schools, which obviously has an influence in the learning outcomes.

The main conclusion that I can draw from this topic is that in my opinion single-sex schools create a rather artificial distinction among students, for I can see no sensible reason to separate boys and girls in education. I think that it is much better to let them benefit from each other!