THE Shanghai No. 8 Middle School and King’s School in Sydney have signed an agreement to share “best practices” in education and tackle the problem of socially inept and underachieving Chinese school boys — phenomenon dubbed the “boy crisis.”

Both schools are educational leaders of education for boys in their countries. The Shanghai No.8 Middle School is known for piloting Shanghai’s all-boy classes in high school. King’s School is Australia’s oldest independent school for boys, with 183 years of specialized education. It has 1,500 students from kindergarten to Year 12.

In China, girls tend to do better than boys in exams and show higher levels of social skills. The girls tend to be more positive toward learning and exhibit a higher degree of self-confidence. They feel comfortable being feminine, whereas boys often have trouble dealing with masculinity.