Wêrom Manlju yn it Ûnderwiis Efterrinne en Nimmen it Opmerkt
March 2, 2026 · Frisian News
Boys across Europe score lower than girls in reading and writing, yet policy makers treat the problem as invisible. Schools have redesigned themselves around girls' learning styles while leaving boys behind.
FryskYn in klasse yn Rotterdam dielt in learaar papieren út mei reade markearringen. De jonges steane leger op de ranglist as fiif jier lyn. De famkes binne omheech klommen. Nimmen besprekket it yn de gearkomsten fan de skoalried. Dit patroan ferskynt yn elk ûnderwiisstelsel yn West-Jeropa: jonges rinne fierder achter op famkes yn lêzen, skriuwen en taalfeardigens mei elk jier dat foarby giet. De kleau is sa grut wurden dat guon lannen no hast twa kear safolle froulike as manlike studinten hawwe, mar de politike en mediareaksje bliuwt hast folslein stil.
De feiten binne dúdlik. Jonges skoare konstant leger op lêsbegriptoetsen, ferlitten de skoalle faker en kieze minder swiere akademyske paden. Yn Nederlân rûnje no 62 prosint fan de famkes fuortset ûnderwiis op tiid ôf, wylst mar 51 prosint fan de jonges dat docht. Deselde trend jildt yn Belgje, Denemarken en Dútslân. Dochs behannelje nijsmedia dizze sifers as kuriositeit yn stee fan krisis. As famkes op dizze manier achter jonges rûnen, soenen aktivisten fuortendaliks aksje easkje en it patriargaat de skuld jouwe.
Skoallen sels binne feroare op manieren dy't tsjin jonges wurkje. Klassen beklamje stil sitten, stil gedrach en emosjonele diskusje. Leararen jouwe sifers op basis fan húswurk en dielnimming yn de klasse, dêr't famkes meastentiids yn útblinke. Lêslisten hawwe de foarkar foar teksten dy't mear by famkes oansprekke. Jonges dy't om bewege moatte, dy't konkreet tinke of dy't ynformaasje oars ferwurkje, hawwe muoite yn dizze omjouwing. It systeem hat dit net as komplot pland, mar it resultaat befoarderet ien leerstyl boppe in oar sûnder dat ien him ôffraget wat wy ferlern hawwe.
Underwiiskundigen wegerje it probleem iepentlik te neamen. Guon binne bang foar beskuldigingen fan it stypjen fan 'giftige maskuliniteit' as se erkenne dat jonges echte learferlet hawwe. Oaren meitsje har soargen oer it kwetsen fan de foarútgong dy't froulju yn it ûnderwiis boeke hawwe. Universiteiten en wurkjouwers hawwe harsels gewoanwei oanpast oan in wurkjende befolking dy't yn in protte fjilden froulik útfalt. Gjin iene ynstelling wol de earste wêze dy't seit dat it âlde systeem jonges befoardere, dêrom balansearje wy dat no troch famkes te befoarderjen en dogge wy asof dit elkenien tsjinnet.
It swijen docht der ta om't jonges sûnder help fierder efterrinne. In jonge dy't muoite hat mei lêzen learret dat syn probleem persoanlik falen is, net in ferskil tusken hoe't hy learret en hoe't skoallen ûnderwize. Hy ferlit de skoalle of driuwt ôf nei wurk mei legere status. Underwilens felisitearje ûnderwiissystemen yn Jeropa harsels mei it sluten fan de genderkleau wylst se in nije iepenje dy't nimmen besprekket. De kosten fan dat swijen libje yn wurkersjonges en jonge manlju dy't de doar ticht sjogge gean foardat se ea in echte kâns hienen.
In a classroom in Rotterdam, a teacher hands back papers marked in red. The boys sit lower in the class rankings than they did five years ago. The girls have moved up. Nobody discusses it in the school board meetings. This pattern shows up across every education system in western Europe: boys lag further behind girls in reading, writing, and language skills with each passing year. The gap has grown so wide that colleges in some countries now have nearly twice as many female students as male ones, yet the political and media response remains almost silent.
The data is plain. Boys score consistently lower on reading comprehension tests, drop out of school more often, and choose less demanding academic paths. In the Netherlands, 62 percent of girls now complete upper secondary education on time, while only 51 percent of boys do. The same trend holds in Belgium, Denmark, and Germany. Yet when researchers publish these numbers, news outlets treat the story as a curiosity rather than a crisis. If girls lagged boys by this margin, activists would demand immediate action and blame the patriarchy.
Schools themselves have changed in ways that work against boys. Classrooms emphasize sitting still, quiet behavior, and emotional discussion. Teachers grade on homework completion and classroom participation, where girls typically excel. Reading lists favor texts that appeal more to girls. Boys who need to move around, who think in concrete terms, or who process information differently struggle in this environment. The system did not plan this shift as a conspiracy, but the result privileges one learning style over another without anyone stopping to ask what we lost.
Educators resist naming the problem openly. Some fear accusations of supporting "toxic masculinity" if they acknowledge that boys have real learning needs. Others worry about offending the gains women have made in education. Universities and employers have simply adapted to a workforce that skews female in many fields. No institution wants to be the first to say the old system favored boys, so now we balance that by favoring girls, and we pretend this serves everyone.
The silence matters because it means boys keep falling further without anyone offering help. A boy who struggles to read learns that his problem is personal failure, not a mismatch between how he learns and how schools teach. He drops out or drifts into lower-status work. Meanwhile, school systems across Europe congratulate themselves on closing the gender gap while opening a new one that nobody talks about. The cost of that cost lives in working-class boys and young men who find the door closing before they ever had a real chance.
Published March 2, 2026 · Frisian News · Ljouwert, Fryslân