July, 2008

The Ministry of Education is considering whether to offer incentives to encourage male university applicants to study for qualification to become school teachers.

A report in the daily Aamulehti claims that reforms to the laws governing tertiary studies are being considered. New legislation will be introduced in 2010.

In practice, incentives will take the form of bonus points or quotas.

Of undergraduates study for their teaching qualification at the University of Tampere, 84 percent are women and just 16 percent are men.

February 12, 2007

We just had one of our School-Age girls move on from our program after being with us for quite a number of years. She lives with her grandparents and they wrote a very heart-warming letter to us. One portion of the letter really spoke to me and I wanted to share it with you:

Dearest friends,
 

Friends:
 
Karen Olson and myself did a presentation at the Manitoba Child Care Association’s (Canada’s largest ECE conference) on "Inviting Men into a World of Women". It was attended by about 8 men and 8 women. Instead of talking to them I decided to make it a group discussion and find out what they think are the reason to involve men, the obstacles to male participation, and what can we do to change things.

Six-year-old Nguyen Khanh Linh is astonished to see a television cartoon of a male bear teaching a class.

And it's not because the teacher is a large furry animal.

"Why is it a he-teacher? Teachers must be female," she says.

In Viet Nam, where female teachers vastly outnumber their male colleagues, the little girl has enunciated a truth not a prejudice.