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Parenting

11th Dec 2024

Children who attend mixed schools make more friends, study claims

Kat O'Connor

Are mixed schools better than same-sex?

Trying to find the right school for your child can be incredibly difficult, especially when deciding between same-sex or mixed schools.

There are benefits to both types of schooling, but a new report has found that mixed schools may be better for children.

Research conducted by UCD’s School of Education has found that the benefits of mixed schools are far greater than those of same-sex schools.

The team analysed 4,000 children in both mixed and same-sex schools in Ireland. They found that children in mixed schools had more friends.

They discovered that pupils in all-girls schools had fewer friends than those in mixed schools, but they did have closer bonds with their classmates.

The team also found that boys in same-sex schools had lower levels of closeness.

Earlier this year, there were calls to start phasing out single-sex schools in Ireland.

Many parents believe mixed schools are better for children.

Higher Education Minister, Patrick O’Donovan called to phase out single-sex schools.

He stated: “I definitely think that we should be offering incentives and encouragement for education integration.”

He added: “What I am saying is that I think there needs to be, at a much earlier stage, an integration around education to show that respect has to be something that is shown no matter what.”

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