The gender gap in New Zealand's high school examination results

schools are taking top honours. The results are not a surprise: high school girls have been outperforming boys academically for more than a decade. It is an international phenomenon, and within Australia was the subject of much debate and controversy. Within New Zealand back in the 1980s, there was a concerted campaign, called 'Girls Can Do Anything', which was aimed at lifting girls' participation rates, achievement levels and aspirations. This was so successful that the pendulum has now swung to the other extreme. Views differ on how worried people should be. After all, for much of history, girls were excluded from any form of education, and this new phenomenon could be seen as a temporary over-correction before the balance is righted. B However the New Zealand State Ministry of Education says it is taking the issue seriously. It is working with a reference group on boys' education which has been set up, and it has commissioned an Australian academic to report on interventions that have been found to work for boys, drawing particularly on Australia's experience. But some, such as former prison manager Celia Lashlie, the author of a book for parents of teenage boys, believe there is still resistance within the Education…