Girls on the mountain, boys run, run, run

From primary level, secondary to the university, female students are steadily overwhelming their male counterparts when it comes to academic excellence, CHARLES ABAH writes Twelve-year-old Kunle Jegede was in the sitting room of their expansive five-bedroom bungalow on Monday evening. He was so engrossed in a television game that he hardly noticed when his father arrived home. While he literally stuck his face to the television, his hands were busy fiddling with the play station. In fact, he was very oblivious of the presence of his father in the sitting room. It took the intervention of Kunle’s two younger sisters who rushed out from their study room to welcome their father to awaken the young lads to consciousness. Even at that, he only managed to spare a few moments to welcome his father before returning to his sport. Apparently, the young lad’s heart, mind and soul were preoccupied in his pastime. While his sisters were doing their prep, Kunle was busy playing his game at the expense of his books. His father, sisters and his books held nothing of interest to him except the game. The story of Kunle and his siblings is not peculiar to the Jegede family. Nowadays, in many homes, boys face so much distraction occasioned by social happenings around their environment that they hardly remember to read their books. This, stakeholders say, perhaps explains why the female pupils and students are fast emerging the best and the brightest in the academic circles. Paying the price From primary, secondary to the university, many females are actually picking up most top prizes in academics. The examples abound. In the May/June 2012 West African Senior School Certificate Examinations, Folafoluwa Oginni, Oluwakemi Olalude and Chinelo Ibekwe, all females, emerged the overall best candidates in the country. In fact, each of them obtained Grade 1 in all their eight subjects. Similarly, in the 2013 Senior Secondary Certificate Examinations conducted by the National Examinations Council, two of the three overall best candidates are girls. While 16-year-old Funmilayo Olayinka of Charis International College, Abeokuta, Ogun State emerged the overall best pupil, another female, 16-year-old Kofoworola Oluwaseun of Aatan Baptist Comprehensive High School, Oyo State took the second position. However, a male, Daniel Ibekwe of the University Demonstration Secondary School, Benin, Edo State, took the third position. At the university level too, female students are fast making their male counterparts look like academic underachievers. Just mention the institution – whether public or private – female pupils are now the leading lights. Indeed, the list is long, Kehinde Babaagba, the best graduating student of the Redemeer’s University, Mowe, Ogun State in the 2012/2013 session is a female. Interestingly, of the 20 candidates in the university roll of honour this year, Kehinde, her twin sister, Taiwo, and 12 other girls obtained first class, leaving the boys to share the remaining six. Two females, Nafisat Olabisi and Izojie Imafidion, emerged the best graduating first class degree holders of the Lead City University, Ibadan, Oyo State, penultimate Friday. At a sister institution, Ajayi Crowther University, Oyo, the highlight of its recent fifth convocation was the emergence of another female, Temitope Olayiwola, into the institution’s roll call of academic excellence. She obtained a first class in Accounting and Finance. Last November, another female, Aishat Farooq, emerged the best graduating student of the Bells University of Technology, Ota, Ogun State. At the Caleb University, Imota, Lagos last convocation, Miss Boluwatife Oyekan received excellence award for emerging the overall best student in the university in the 2012/2013 session. However, even as the girls are posting these outstanding results, the boys are not totally out of the picture. For instance, at the University of Ilorin, Kwara State last convocation, male students dominated the roll of honour with Abiodun Kazeem becoming the first graduate to bag a first class grade in the Faculty of Law. The trouble with boys Are there unresolved issues with the boys, experts’ response is in the affirmative. Is there a connection between homework and education attainment, again, the response is in positive. According to some stakeholders, the chances of doing homework are higher for the girls than the boys and therefore the former are likely to attain better academic heights. Particularly, for the Head of National Office of the West African Examinations Council, Mr. Charles Eguridu, boys are preoccupied with watching premiership, chatting with their telephones, dancing and engaging in other extra-curricular activities than girls and so are distracted from reading their books. He adds, “Males are gradually becoming endangered species and so it is not surprising that the female folk are excelling of late in academics.” A university teacher, Prof. Kayode Soremekun, shares the view with Eguridu that the unending social stream is distracting the boys. Soremekun, who teaches at the Covenant University Ota, Ogun State says, “Boys are involved in so many things. The higher testosterone levels in males make them to be hunters. They are looking out for women, driving cars and they have obsession with sports. “In the university where I teach, any day the big English clubs are playing, boys occupy every space in the cafeteria. You can only find a few girls.” However, are the girls’ success stories limited to Nigeria? Again, why the poor representation of boys in the roll of honours of late? According to Eguridu, available statistics before the examination body points to the fact that the academic underachievement of boys is not peculiar to Nigeria. He adds, “Using the 2012 WASSCE, agreed that the three top achievers were all girls, this success is not peculiar to Nigeria. It is replicated in countries such as Ghana, Sierra Leone and the Gambia where girls are all the top achievers. In fact, the best overall candidate in the examination in West Africa is a girl.” Religious sentiments Beyond this, a Lagos-based education administrator, Mrs. Felicia Ugbodu, says there is more to it than meets the eye. For the educationist, God has a hand in all of this. She notes that the way God created girls places them in a better stead to outperform their male counterparts. According to her, while girls are calmer and more obedient, boys are more daring; a factor she says makes them more of social deviants. She adds, “It is not surprising that the girls are academically outpacing their male counterparts. They are calmer and more committed in whatever they do. For instance, if a teacher gives an extended learning assignment or homework, the girls are more likely to carry out their task - unlike the boys. That is not to say that the boys are not good. They are good, but girls are more committed than boys.” But an education psychologist at the Lagos State University, Ojo, Prof. Demola Onifade, who also acknowledges that girls are more dedicated than boys, thinks less about the influence of religion in all of this. “I do not think religion is a big issue in this. Girls are more assimilating when it comes to religion, tend to believe in God more than boys and pay more attention to religious activities but I think that is where the logic ends,” he argues, beaming with a sarcastic smile. Lifting the glass ceiling Apart from this, another school of thought holds the view that the exposure of girls to more social challenges is a major boost to their survival strategy. According to the proponents, girls are no longer objects of marriage. They see themselves as not only homemakers but also contributors to the survival of their families and homes. This gradual but liberating philosophy, stakeholders argue, is propelling the young ones among them to be seeking to break the ceiling. In other words, the fresh focus among the female folk is education, work and career. Onifade cannot but agree. Women, the university teacher says, are now thinking beyond the box. He notes, “These young girls do not just want to end up as housewives. Now they see more challenges and so do not want to be restricted to the home front. It is therefore not surprising that they are working hard to achieve more than their male counterparts do.” A management consultant, Dr. Ayodele Ogunsan, lends credence to Onifade’s view. According to Ogunsan, the highflying status of girls is borne by ambition and the longing to be independent. Ogunsan, who is the chief operating officer of Executive Trainers, adds, “At the tertiary level, ladies become more ambitious and highly competitive in nature than guys and this creates a significant gap in academic performance. This zeal is mostly borne by desire not to be economically reliant in men. Modern women also want to possess some degree of independency.” Beyond this, Ogunsan notes that the physiology of the girl-child has a role in all of this. He says, “Girls mature earlier than boys, which gives an advantage in attentiveness and readiness to learn in girls, especially at the first two stages of schooling.” Tendency for mischief Boys, some stakeholders note, face numerous social pressure and distraction and this leads them to imbibing wrong values unlike females. They also posit that the men folk like keeping up with the Joneses. According to these proponents, the shift in social attitudes is having a strong bearing upon the educational aspirations and performance of the male students. Onifade attests to this, noting that while the boys are roving the social circles, the girls are paying less attention to campus romance. In fact, one of the female highflyers, Olabisi, notes that she never considered campus romance. She says while sharing her survival strategy, “The issue of campus romance never occupied my consciousness. Instead of expending time and money in keeping such a relationship, I gave special attention to my books.” No empirical evidence For a psychologist, Dr. Femi Akinfala of the University of Lagos, there is no scientific evidence, at least in the country, to prove that girls have become intellectually superior to boys. He notes, “I agree it is a researchable topic. But for now, there is no empirical evidence to prove that girls are doing better than boys academically. What is the yardstick for this analysis? For instance, how many private and public universities did you visit for this analysis? In terms of Cumulative Point Grade Average, how many boys and girls made first class, second class upper division and so on and for how many years?” He nonetheless acknowledges that more girls than boys are now in school, particularly among the Igbo. A former University of Lagos Psychology lecturer, Prof. Kayode Oguntuase, who notes that girls’ current superlative scholastic performance is encouraging, adds, “We need to watch the trend and ensure it is sustained and sustainable”. Instrument of magic But even as girls are posting these high-flying results, there still exists a shadow of doubt about this “girls rule, boys drool philosophy”. According to a university teacher, who craves anonymity, there is more to their alleged academic superiority. He says, “These girls know how to get what they want. Have you ever bothered to know why they do well in a department where there is a preponderance of male teachers? Have you wondered to know why their chances are slimmer in departments where there are many female teachers? However, in all, one cannot use this “magic” to obtain a first class.” But Soremekun disagrees with this view. Noting that it is wrong to reduce the argument to an intra-gender war, the International Relations teacher adds that gone are the days that boys dominated the scholastic honours. Soremekun also points to positive role models as another contributing factor to the new academic success. “Women are making giant strides in the parliament, education and in many other spheres of life and these young ones are picking some things from them.” Oguntuase, now a lecturer at the National Open University of Nigeria also says, “We can explain the trend in terms of changes in societal attitude to girl-child resulting from opportunities maximally utilised by females in education and politics. Now greater value is being placed on the girl-child because what a man can do, a woman can also do. “We can explain the trend in terms of changes in societal attitude to girl-child resulting from opportunities maximally utilised by females in education, business, politics, and in sports.” But a management consultant, Richard Maduegbuam, says it is harsh when some people think that the female gender is better than the male gender. “I see them as equal. I also think that it is wrong to make such a sweeping generalisation. I am not saying this because I think boys are better; I am saying this because I think everyone is equal,” he explains.