A heated debate on the viability and necessity of same-sex schools had Today with Claire Byrne listeners reacting in a major way on Tuesday morning.
The Government is being urged to end the process of same-sex education, with Labour set to bring a Private Member’s Bill which seeks to end gender discrimination in school admission.
Barbara Ennis, the principal of all-girls school Alexandra College in Clonskeagh, was joined by Aidan Regan, Associate Professor at the School of Politics and International Relations at UCD, to debate the issue with Claire.
Aidan's argument included a question of "What kind of signals are we sending to our teenage boys and girls by saying that they must be educated separately? It's the wrong signal and it is feeding into hypermasculinity, which is a major problem today."
Barbara replied: "Oh my god. That's absolute rubbish, I mean, signals?! We're not giving any signals. In the case of lack of choice in rural Ireland, that's not a signal, that's reality. In urban Ireland, if a student and her parents decide to go to a girl's school, that's their choice, there are no signals.
"Why should we be forced to do anything? You want everything to be the same? Like the high streets in Dublin, the same shops in each town, how boring. Lack of diversity, lack of opportunity, I absolutely don't agree with you at all."
Another part of Barbara's argument was that her school "puts on a musical every year with one of the local boy's schools, so it's a positive environment."
And people tuning in believed there was only one winner from the discussion.
One person tweeted: "Oh dear god,that principal is a shockingly poor advocate for single sex schools, her only argument is that 'my schools great.
A second added: "Alexandra College is a very poor representation of what segregated schooling is
Another said: "Research shows that girls fare better than boys in #SingleSexSchools. If it was the other way around we wouldn’t be having this conversation. Why should only those who can afford to go private be able to access a better education for their daughters?
A fourth noted: "This principal on #todaycb is particularly belligerent. She hasn't put forward a single argument at all for keeping single sex schools. The crux of all her arguments amounts to "my school is brilliant. The research is wrong."
While a fifth tweeted: "I don't think the principal is listening. Mixed schools don't equal 'boring'. Just because her school is able to have a disco/project with a boys school doesn't mean there isn't a major problem"
