Decline in male teachers ‘robbing young boys of role models’

THE decline in men choosing teaching as a career must be reversed to ensure young boys have male role models at school, Fine Gael said yesterday.

Figures presented by Education Minister Noel Dempsey in the Dáil this week show that less than one-fifth of the country’s 26,000 primary teachers are men. While one-quarter of teachers in their 50s are male, the figure is just 10% among the 6,800 primary teachers in their 20s.

Fine Gael deputy education spokesman David Stanton said part of the reason fewer men were entering the profession was the swing towards other sectors, such as computers and information technology.