The principal of Auckland's Westlake Boys High School says new analysis suggests students at boys-only schools have outperformed co-eds in New Zealand.
Hundreds of educators from around the world are gathering this week for the International Boys School Conference in the city, which is being organised by Westlake for the first time.
Organisers of this week's conference say findings from the study, which has been supported by the NZ Association of Boys' Schools, will be released at the conference.
New Zealand has 47 public boys-only schools — a high proportion for the country's population — raising questions about the viability of the model going into the future.
Speaking to Breakfast, headmaster David Ferguson pushed back on suggestions that boys-only schools engendered machoism among men.
"They've come a long way since the time when I was at school," he said.
"There are things that we have available now, the things we talk to them about."
He said speaking about consent and relationship education was an "important part" of the work that single-sex schools now carried out.
"Using people who specialise in working with boys is a great way of doing it. I'm not saying it's the only way, but it's a way of doing it, and we find it works."
Studies from the past have also suggested on multiple occasions that students at single-sex schools outperform co-eds.
Speaking to Breakfast, Ferguson said boys and girls matured differently and that it meant having school choices was better for some students.
"Having an option where boys and girls can learn in a separate environment, during high school, is a good option to have for some young people and for some parents," he said.
"There are some great co-ed schools in New Zealand and some great single-sex schools as well."
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