An overwhelming majority of parents still prefer admitting their daughters to a single-sex school. This attitude persists even after girls complete their secondary or higher secondary education and seek admission to colleges.

This is especially true in Saurashtra, where the trend continues to be in favour of separate schools and colleges for girls, though a large number of girls are now studying in co-educational institutions. It must, however, be noted that the concept of co-education came into vogue only after World War II with the singular idea of producing individuals who would be better adjusted to themselves, the opposite sex and society in general.

If Westerners felt that students in single-sex schools produced better academic grades, those in the East were of the opinion that mixed schools bred permissiveness and immorality. Studies in the UK and US revealed that pupils from co-educational schools academically lag behind students from single-sex schools.

Another study has shown that girls perform better than boys when they learn science and maths in all girls' schools. Different reasons have been ascribed for this performance. One being that learning and grasping abilities of boys and girls are inherently different. Girls respond better to oral lectures since their power of listening is strong and they are diligent when it comes to making notes. Boys, on the other hand, prefer an informal class set-up where there is more of discussion and less of written work.

In the US, the American Civil Liberties Unions fought for decades to highlight the gender bias and lack of equal opportunities which prevailed in a situation where boys and girls were huddled in separate groups. They succeeded and co-education schools became the norm rather than the exception in the '70s and '80s.

But the trend seeems to have reversed in the '90s. More and more parents in the West are seeing sense in sending their wards to single-sex institutions. The general perception is that sending them to single-sex schools would help in two ways -- in the competitive job arena. Parents want their childern to score high academic grades and are willing to send them to schools which offer a milieu most conducive to study and enhanced performance.

The second equally significant factor is the absence of distraction which a co-educational institution brings with the mixing of sexes.

In Saurashtra too the bias is in favour of a single-sex institutions. Out of 100 colleges affiliated to Saurashtra University, at least two dozen impart education solely to girls, while there are a few colleges for boys only. Principal of Rajkot's much sought after S N Kansagra school Kiran Patel opines that success of mixed or single schools depends on the atmosphere. Taking a leaf out of the research conducted in Western countries, he himself has started segregating boys and girls. Patel too concurs with a view that single-sex schools result in enhanced academic performance.

Principal of Kundalia Mahila College Banuben Dhakan, however, believes that co-education provides a platform to boys and girls to interact. A co-educational system can help avert many social problems, she avers, adding that it is human nature to violate imposed barriers. Dhamsania Commerce College principal Raiyani too favours co-education. It is only in Gujarat and particularly Saurashtra that one finds proliferation of women's colleges, he points out.