03/10/2026
In this fortnight's Opinion piece for Odia Daily Sambad, I have argued that Boys are beginning to lag behind girls in education. So, work space needs to be reformed for gender parity in favour of women and the education space needs reform for gender parity as boys and men are struggling.
In School Board examinations, across the world, girls are now out-performing boys. Even in higher education, women are now ahead of men by 15-25 % in different countries.
This under performance originates from the way our brain develops biologically. The frontal cortex of the brain (the CEO of the Brain) associated with impulse control, planning, future orientation develops two years later in boys than girls. Similarly the cerebellum reaches full size at age eleven years in girls and at 15 years for boys. If boys are not adequately supported till they catch up, they can find it difficult to understand subjects as well or concentrate in studies.
I argue, that women still lag behind men in work life and need support. Similarly, boys and men need support, when it comes to education.
These arguments were made by Richard Reeves in his 2022 best-seller "Of Boys and Men". I have sliced a small part of the argument given the limitation of 900 words, with the hope that the subject will receive due attention in our conversations.
