Did you breathe a big sigh of relief once homeschooling finished up before the summer holidays?
I know I sure did.
As did my two children – maybe especially so my little boy, who was more than happy to pack away his senior infants books when the term ended and summer holidays began.
That’s not to say that my 10-year-old wasn’t happy to see the end of homeschool too – she was, but she had also been happy enough to plough away at the work sent on by her teacher as we homeschooled our way through the lockdown. Certainly more so than my little boy, I will admit – something I put down to their age difference, to be honest.
But as it turns out, according to a new study, boys have overall done less school work during lockdown than girls.
In fact, according to the research from Sussex University, almost a third (31 percent) of primary school-aged boys were doing less than an hour a day of home learning compared to a quarter (24 percent) of their female peers.
This trend was also noticeable in secondary school-aged children, were boys were also doing less work than their female classmates, with 16 percent of male students doing less than an hour a day compared to 13 percent of girls.
Academics from the UK university analysed the results of a survey of over 3,000 parents and teachers about the amount of work that youngsters have carried out at home in May and June.
Lead researcher, Dr. Matthew Easterbrook described the disparity between the different groups as ‘particularly worrying.’
‘There are marked differences in the time that children are spending on home learning depending on whether they are primary or secondary pupils, boys or girls, the children of graduates, and how financially comfortable their household is.’
‘The disruption to pupils’ education caused by the school closures is dramatic and could have long-term negative consequences, with some pupils receiving lower grades and becoming less engaged with school,’ he cautioned.
