Teachers urge action over boys’ weaker reading skills

It is a challenge that boys and girls perform so differently in reading, Jacob Eli S. Olsen, chairman of the Faroese Teachers’ Association, told broadcaster KVF after a new PISA survey found that boys performed significantly worse than girls.

The survey also found that 42 per cent of students have reading skills considered non-functional.

Olsen said political authorities must act quickly to reverse the trend. Teachers currently do not have sufficient opportunities to support students who are struggling, he said.

He called for the co-teaching system to be strengthened so that more teachers are available for each student.