Teaching profession set to be predominately female

THE overwhelming majority of second-level teachers will soon be women, a teachers’ union leader warned yesterday.

As many men no longer regarded teaching as an attractive profession, ASTI president Patricia Wroe said only 15% of secondary teachers would be male in five to seven years.

Pay was a key issue, she told the union’s conference in Killarney, adding that teachers were not being properly paid for their contribution to society.