Yemeni girls outshine boys in schools

Sanaa: Yemeni female students have outshone their male counterparts over the past four years, a recent study said.

The number of girls in the honours list was much higher than that of boys in the high school examinations.

"Sixteen female students were in the honours list in 2003 as against 10 boys in the science section. The arts department had 18 girls compared to four boys," said Dr Suad Salem Al Sabe'e, who conducted the study. She is an educational expert at the Yemeni Ministry of Education.

Al Sabe'e said female students are performing better than boys since 1999 when girls bagged more than half of the places in the honours list in both science and literature departments. "In 2001, the number of girls in the honours list was 39 whereas the number of boys was 10. In 2002, the number of girls was 36 and the number of boys 13."

Dr Al Sabe'e said reasons behind the trend are "political stability, growing awareness among and parents' conviction of the importance of the education of girls".

It also said the enrolment of girls in schools is increasing and 1.5 million girls joined schools in 2003 compared to 52,000 girls in 1991.

"Girls themselves are convinced of the importance of education and know it's a good chance for them to prove themselves. They insist on continuing education even if they are wives and mothers," said the study.

- The writer is a journalist based in Sanaa.