Government seeks to boost number of male teachers

A CAMPAIGN to boost the numbers of men working as primary teachers gets underway this week with a series of newspaper and radio ads funded by the Department of Education.

Government seeks to boost number of male teachers

The awareness programme is part of a strategy being pursued by Education Minister Mary Hanafin in response to the falling numbers of young men choosing teaching as a career especially at primary level.

Latest statistics show that less than 17% of the 27,550 primary teachers last year were men, compared to around 30% in the 1970s. More worryingly for the future, just 11% of those studying to be teachers last year were male and some analysts predict that Irish primary classrooms could be virtually man-free zones in the next 10 to 15 years.

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