Dempsey wants more male teachers

EDUCATION Minister Noel Dempsey is examining ways to get more men interested in becoming teachers as part of an effort to meet huge staff shortages in schools.

Mr Dempsey is to establish a special working group to resolve the problem, as statistics show 90% of those entering teacher training colleges are women. Their job will be to examine the gender imbalance in modern teaching and come up with ways of redressing the inequalities.

The move comes as a report published this week recommends the image of the profession must be improved to help meet the shortages of 1,000 staff in the country’s primary schools. The study was conducted by the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD).