Girls Read Better than Boys

A recent report has found that girls outdo boys in reading literacy as well.

A recent report has found that girls outdo boys in reading literacy as well. The 2009 assessment report, released by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), shows that girls read better than boys in every participating country by an average of 39 points on a particular scale.

The study featured two hour tests of half a million students in more than 70 economies. The gender gap in reading is equal to one year of schooling, the OECD says. It adds that the widening gap in countries like France, Israel, South Korea, Portugal and Sweden is mainly because boys in these countries are less inclined to be engaged in reading. According to the Program for International Student Assessment, which brought out the report, less students across genders say they read for pleasure, with the figure dropping from 69 per cent in 2000 to 64 per cent in 2009.  The tests also covered maths and science, finding that boys outperform girls in maths.