By Adesina Wahab

The World Bank has said that  boys and men are underachieving educationally in some African and Middle East countries as the world gradually recovers from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a report titled: What about the boys? Addressing underachievement of boys and men during and beyond the COVID pandemic, the bank listed areas where the trends were noticed to include: Low levels of participation in education, Low rates of education completion or graduation, and low student learning outcomes.It added that even high income countries know this all too well: no matter the grade or subject, boys have been underperforming in school compared to girls, and men have become less represented in higher education.

“It’s a phenomenon that has been acknowledged in the literature of many high-income countries for decades, and now increasingly observed among middle-income countries. With the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on education and the deepening of existing inequalities, it is important and timely to better understanding the underachievement of boys and men, in addition to girls and women.

“Recent evidence highlights the significant effect of school closures on girls including the estimated 10 million additional girls at risk of child marriage over the next decade. Less is known about the effect on boys due to lack of global research on factors related to their underachievement prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“In every region of the world, and in almost every country, boys are more likely than girls to experience learning poverty, being unable to read and comprehend a simple text by the age of 10. The differences are substantial in some countries, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa, MENA region and among middle-income countries. For example, in lower-middle-income countries, the learning poverty rate for boys is 56 per cent, compared to 47 per cent for girls.

“While girls’ underrepresentation in secondary and tertiary education remains a significant issue in some, particularly low-income countries, there are more than 100 countries in which fewer boys/men than girls/women are enrolled in and complete secondary and higher education. Of the 152 countries with data, 116 (76%) have lower tertiary education enrollment ratios among men compared to women.  Not only are men less likely to participate in tertiary education, but they are also less likely to finish their programs of study. The overall disruption to enrollment and learning from the COVID-19 pandemic is well documented in many countries and it can be expected that educational challenges will be especially experienced by certain subgroups of students, including boys and men who are underachieving.”

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Touching on why the development should be a matter of concern, the report said:

“Educational underachievement of any group has critical implications for individuals and for countries in their efforts to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education for all (Sustainable Development Goal 4) and to build human capital. If there were no underachievement of boys across the world — that is, if boys had the same learning-adjusted years of schooling as girls — a child’s long-term annual productivity would be, on average, 1.3 per cent higher.

“Maintained over the course of a decade, this represents an increase in total production of 13.9 per cent. In MENA, this would be as high as 33.9 per cent. These differences are particularly important considering that there is a strong relationship among boys and men between educational underachievement and economic and social disadvantage.”

The report added that as the COVID-19 pandemic subsides, “addressing increased inequality will be a priority if education development strategies are to be put back on track. The specific inequality challenge may bear out to be primarily gender-related (regarding either boys or girls) in some countries, and thus will require a specific focus.”

On what has been done about the development, the Bank said interventions at various levels were ongoing.“Examples of interventions include quotas for entry to university, raising awareness of work opportunities after graduation, and technical education leading directly to the labor market. However, these interventions have had mixed results.

“Efforts to modify the influence of social norms have included attempts to create a counter-offensive through peer groups, clubs, parenting programs, and teacher training on social norm. Interventions that target the quality of education, particularly the ability of teachers to motivate and find connections to students’ lives, hold high expectations, and focus on individual talents and needs, appear to be crucial for underachieving boys, while also benefiting underachieving girls. These go beyond any idea of a “boy-friendly” pedagogy, instead recognizing that both boys and girls benefit when learning is high-quality, evidence-based, and scientifically grounded.”

It called for more attention and research to address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and Accelerate Equality.

Vanguard News Nigeria