Madam, - There is a simple biological explanation why girls do better than boys in secondary school - differential growth rates. Female bodies develop much quicker than male ones; a typical girl can achieve her adult height and intellect at 14 years old, compared with 17 or 18 for a boy.
As the brain is a part of the body, and develops as the body develops, girls have a strong IQ advantage in secondary school; they are simply smarter than boys because their brain reaches its adult weight sooner, but this effect is redundant above the age of 18, when boys catch up.
This makes the comparisons between male and female Junior Certificate scores manifestly unfair, and artificially inflates female egos while dampening male ones. - Yours, etc,
ADRIAN BOLAND, Langton Park, Newbridge, Co Kildare.