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Boys Continue To Outnumber Girls At Selective Schools As Tests Get More Difficult.

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According to Sydney Morning Herald, due to the nature of the Selective exams that are more focused on mathematics and not on writing exams is the cause of male students at a high number than female students on various Selective Schools. With this in mind the Selective School team is analyzing to change some things in the exam.

A new selective school exam with less focus on mathematics and more emphasis on writing and reading has failed to increase the number of females and Indigenous pupils admitted to the highest-performing public schools.

Click here for Tips for Mathematical Reasoning for Selective Test.

However, the revised exam, which is supposed to be more difficult in order to more effectively distinguish the top achievers, is threatening the economic models of coaching institutes, with some unable to alter their tutoring programs, said Jordan Baker, Sydney Morning Herald’s Chief Reporter.

A 2018 evaluation by the NSW Education Department of access to the state’s 51 selective schools revealed that there were fewer spots for females in the selective school system and that female students refused offers more frequently than boys. Even in coeducational schools, a gender disparity exists. Two-thirds of Fort Street High School’s pupils are male. At Baulkham Hills High, this percentage is 56%, at Penrith it is 57%, at Girraween it is 59%, and at Caringbah it is 60%.

With these, it can be infered that the number of female students really are at a disadvantage. Thus, the team is finding ways to to make balance for it. The evaluation determined that the prior exam placed too much emphasis on mathematical skills, and males performed better on those problems. The new test, which was launched last year and has not yet been made digital, despite promises to do so in 2022, places a higher focus on writing.

The number of females seeking to take the selective schools exam has increased marginally since 2018, according to numbers acquired by the Herald under request of information rules from the NSW Education Department. The number of applications reached a four-year high in 2017. Despite increased efforts to publicize the exam procedure via social media and school newsletters, the percentage of girls who accepted a spot was the lowest in four years, at 43.7% last year.

Last year, the number of Indigenous students who applied, were offered, and accepted a position was at its lowest level in four years, with only 29 students taking a spot compared to 48 in 2018. Since 2018, however, the number of students with disabilities taking the exam, being given a spot, and accepting the offer has more than doubled.

The department’s acting group deputy secretary of school performance, Anthony Manning, stated that the selective school team was analyzing participation trends to see why girls were less likely to apply or accept a seat. “A number of changes have also been implemented to the tests in order to determine placement beginning in 2022,” Manning said. “These changes include test panelling, which ensures that test items are culturally appropriate for Aboriginal students, students in rural and remote areas, students from disadvantaged backgrounds, girls, and students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.” 

Manning stated that the agency was also responsible for ensuring that schools were culturally safe for pupils who identified as Aboriginal. According to what he had remarked, “Regional and rural selective schools have had better success in attracting Aboriginal kids, and this is something we should learn from.”

According to Associate Professor Jae Yup Jung, an authority on gifted education at the University of New South Wales, there are a variety of interconnected factors contributing to the decline in the number of girls choosing elite institutions.”It may be attitudes in the family,” he said. “It’s possible that some families are of the opinion that my daughter’s education would be better served at a less competitive school. It’s possible that the youngsters have their own goals and dreams in mind. It is not reasonable to anticipate any changes in the near future.”

The standardized exam for admission to elite schools was initially scheduled to take place in early March of this year; however, it was postponed out of worries that an excessive number of pupils would be unable to participate as a result of the flooding. More than 480 students wrote in to say that they were unable to attend the test due to illness or other unforeseen circumstances. 

According to Mohan Dhall, chief executive officer of the Australian Tutoring Association, students said that the real examination was more difficult than they had anticipated based on the practice exams they had taken at coaching institutes. He stated that a good many of them emerged from the critical thinking portion in a state of utter disarray. “They said that the inquiries were ones that they had never been asked before.

“People who have been drawn to selective institutions are going through coaching courses in significant numbers in order to try to get into those schools; yet, the majority of coaching colleges have not developed any new materials.They’ve taken previously used questions from exams and given them a new name.” Dhall said.

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