Honour grade Irish ‘barrier to male teachers’

THE obligation to have honours Leaving Certificate Irish to become a primary school teacher may be an obstacle to men entering the profession, an expert committee has found.

However, the group, set up to examine ways of increasing the number of male teachers, said reducing the requirement for a minimum C grade in higher level Gaeilge would not guarantee achieving that goal.

The proportion of men among primary teachers has fallen from 30% in the 1970s to 18%, while only 10% of those entering the profession are men.