It seems that the ethos that has prevailed in the West for decades which considered that all-girl schools are old-fashioned has recently begun to change. This is especially so after some people have become more convinced that the idea of the separation of the sexes in schools is not only good in and of itself, but that it also leads to better student performance.
In a review of a French book entitled "Les Pièges de la Mixité Scolaire" (Traps of Mixed Schools), published by L'express magazine, the French sociologist Michel Fize, a researcher at the National Center for Scientific Studies in France, mentioned that intermixing between the sexes in European schools neither supports equality between the sexes nor supports equal opportunities.
The study was issued after forty-five years of experience in mixed education in France. It revealed the evils of intermixing between the sexes in the West, and especially in France where an increase in the rate of sexual assaults against teenagers inside educational establishments has been witnessed. It also witnessed an increase in the rate of boys' academic failure, even though they were preferred to girls in schools in a manner that exposed the bias of the teachers.
Intermixing and Educational Rights
Therefore, the context and development of events in France and in the West prove the opposite of what is said - that as long as the society is mixed and democratic. This same pattern must be represented in schools.
Michel Fize remarks that intermixing is not an educational right. It was applied as an expression of the principles of equality and respect for the rights of citizenship. If that principle was truly a right, then why do we not force our girls to work as car-mechanics?
The author declares that he is calling for a separation policy that changes society for the better, especially in light of the information that he obtained about the decline of the quality of education and girls' inability to achieve self-fulfillment in coeducational settings, as well as the problems experienced by boys in linguistic achievement.
Fize adds that the separation process does not entail students' expression of their religious affiliation or ideological inclination. In this context, separation does not mean that we will resort to opening schools that are exclusive to veiled girls.
This issue, which the Western world used to consider a taboo, is highly controversial. It has opened the door for heated discussions about the dangers of intermixing between the sexes, especially in preparatory and secondary schools in Western Europe and America.
School Youth Problems
L'express magazine, which reviewed the book, also shed light on a number of problems faced by youth inside schools. Out of 110,000 messages received on the Youth Hotline in the year 2000, there were 4000 messages whose senders reported that they were subjected to sexual pressure at school. Sexual violence constituted 31.1% of all violence during the school year 2001-2002, which was, of course, apart from other forms of violence. In addition, girls were exposed to abuse and obscene language, especially in districts that suffered from the problems of poverty, deprivation and emigrant inhabitants.
'Girls Only' Schools
In an interview with the author, the magazine referred to the issue of an Islamic attack on the West. It wondered if this separation coincided with the Islamic point of view on this issue and therefore would they, as a secular country, wait long before Islam advances towards them with the intention of conquest.
The author answered by saying that since the year 2000 and during the reign of the "religious" US President George W Bush, the idea of establishing separate schools in America became acceptable, as well as in England, Sweden, Finland and Germany. It was known that separation was already being applied during science classes. In France, Catholic education was the first to call for separation, although this was with regard to private schools that are far removed from formal secular education.
A number of experts commented on the study and the subject it raised at a time when Western attacks were intense against Islam and Muslims in the Western world, particularly America.
The British magazine, The Economist, featured an article entitled All-Girl schools…the latest educational fad in Britain. The article mentioned that after boys were separated from girls in a number of private British schools, examination results for the year 1997 showed that 68% of the students obtained higher marks than previously. In the 2004 examination results, 81% of boys and 82% of girls achieved the same high scores after separation was applied.
The magazine also mentioned that the United States began as of the school year 2004 to relax and facilitate the rules that had previously forbidden education based on single-sex public schools.
The Notion of Equality
The French Minister of Education stated the necessity to respect the two sexes during the different stages of education. At the same time, he noted a contradiction between his secular state and the book in question, as well as the results that followed.
Isabelle Dehaie of Mix-Cite Education, said that the issue that should be discussed was the idea of equality and the women's right to vote, which was legislated in the year 1848, but never practiced by women until the year 1945.
André Blandin, General Secretary of the Catholic Education Association, said that it was necessary to decisively confront the issue of intermixing between the sexes in schools in order to avoid sexual harassment.
Marie Duru, an educational researcher, mentioned that fear does not arise from the process of separation, but rather from changes of syllabi to cope with the problems of society – and that is the real problem.
In her comment on the process of separation, Dominique Schnapper, a headmistress in a higher education school for social sciences, said that it was advocated that girls should attend school with boys as something natural since women work with men side by side in society. Hence, it would be illogical not to refer to the oppression that women suffer in society. She thus views that school must be a place where girls are secure against the oppression that is perpetrated against them. She added that teachers should choose the system that benefits all students.
However, she referred to the impact of Islamic thought and its ability to penetrate Western society and settle the problem, which represented a further problem that requires added consideration.
On the whole, the study did not hide its fear of Islamic interference, for it called for principles to which Islam called before their civilization was built. They then searched for a way out of their problems through futile confrontations. Sadly, they neglected the fact that Islam has adopted an ingenious approach to education, some of the details of which are applied these days by non-Muslims.