Taichung Second Senior High School would no longer enforce a gender ratio in student enrollment (currently 65 percent male to 35 percent female) and plans to fully adopt co-ed classes starting in the 2025-2026 academic year, the school’s principal Ou Jing-yu (歐靜瑜) said in an interview.
The decision was made after three unsuccessful attempts at implementing co-ed classes over the past three decades, Ou said.
The school discussed the possibility of co-ed classes in 1994, 2004 and 2014, but no consensus was reached, she added.
Photo courtesy of the Taichung Second Senior High School
Currently, only language, science, mathematics and music classes are co-ed, Ou said.
Some teachers believe there are differences in discipline, tidiness and academic performance between male and female students, while others think co-ed classes promote better learning, she said.
Ou said she believes all students have different learning and thinking styles, but the most important thing is how teachers guide them.
In 2023, the issue of co-ed classes was raised again, and after surveying the opinions of teachers and staff, and holding a series of meetings, a consensus was reached: the core problem lies in the difference in the ratio of male to female admissions.
The meetings also discussed whether co-ed classes would increase the likelihood of students developing romantic relationships.
Some said that physical segregation does not prevent students from developing romantic relationships and that students should have the opportunity to learn how to interact with the opposite sex.
After addressing concerns about co-ed classes, the school passed a resolution to remove its admissions’ gender ratio restrictions and change class structures to co-ed from the 2025-2026 academic year.
Founded in 1922 during the Japanese colonial period, the school was formerly called the “Taichung Prefectural Taichung Second Middle School.” It was changed to the current name after its merger with Taichung Prefectural Taichung Second Girls’ High School in 1946.
The school stopped recruiting girls in July 1952.
In 1982, the school set up music experimental classes and begun accepting female students again, but with a gender-segregated class system.
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