World News

Fewer than one in five students studying teaching in the state's universities and TAFEs are male as the exodus of men from schools worsens.

South Australian Tertiary Admissions Centre figures for 2009 show there are 152 males (or 19 per cent) and 650 females enrolled in teaching courses.

Chu Hoang Tung's parents were very surprised to see a man teaching their son's class when Tung entered the fifth grade at Le Ngoc Han Primary School.

Tung's mother Nguyen Thi Thoa says she had never seen a male primary school teacher when her older daughter, now a university student, was in school.

A Kindergarten teacher is using a scholarship to encourage other men into the profession.

Speaking of kindergarten nannies, the first picture that pops into our heads is usually of those tender, versatile female nannies. But in a kindergarten in Nanjing, a male nanny is doing a great job.

Minister of Education and Human Resource Development, Ronald Jones, made this admission yesterday, while saying that more men were applying to teach.

He told reporters females were doing their best in the classroom but there were certain things males were better suited to do to help schoolboys - and even girls.

More than one third of primary schools across Cumbria have no male teachers.

There are 275 local authority primary schools across the county, but, according to figures released by the Department for Education, there are 99 primary schools across Cumbria with only female teachers.

The problem is mirrored across the country despite attempts by the previous Government to increase numbers.

The number of men working as school teachers has reached a five-year low leading to concerns about a lack of positive male role models.

A MEN-ONLY teacher taster course is being put on by the county council help encourage more men into the profession.

In 2001/02 there were around 1,500 men teaching in the county but a Government campaign has seen that rise up to 2,341 in 2008/09.

To help boost numbers Bucks County Council are holding their a three-day seminar in September which will include a school placement.

The Malaysian Education Ministry will set a quota and take in a stipulated percentage of men every year for teaching posts to address the dearth of male teachers in schools.

Education director-general Tan Sri Alimuddin Mohd Dom is confident the imposition of a quota will rectify the situation.

Scottish men are beings urged to take on key jobs with young children, such as nursery and primary school teachers - roles they avoid for fear of being suspected as paedophiles.

The Scottish Government wants more men to get involved in early years education in order to provide male role models, which are lacking in children's lives.

A campaign was launched to encourage more men to become primary school teachers to counteract the shortage of male role models in schools.

The Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) has organised events in schools around the country. Hundreds of men will attend the sessions in which school staff will talk about why they should join the profession.

In June 2004 KKCCC hosted the first Men in Childcare Conference which examined the issues of achieving a gender balance within the sector. Out of that conference a Men in Childcare Network was established and they have gone on to host two further conferences each year since.

The Men in Childcare Network support and encourage men who are interested in a career in childcare.

A major push to increase the number of male teachers in primary schools is being launched this week in an attempt to overcome a serious shortage which experts say is affecting boys.

Hundreds of men will attend events in schools, where heads, deputies and teachers will try to persuade them to join the profession. The sessions are being organised by the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDAS), which hopes to capitalise on a recent surge in interest.

Thirteen is the lucky number for Berwick Primary School, where 13 of the school's 40 staff members are male.

Principal Kaye Seton said the male teachers, often rare in a Primary School setting, provided positive male role models for students.

"This has not been a deliberate staffing decision but over the years the number of male teachers has continued to grow," she said.

With the absence of men in most households in Jamaica, Kayson Jones said a male teacher was very important in his mentoring process.

"I find that the children (boys) are excited to have a male role model, someone they can talk to, someone who look like them, someone who smell like them," said the educator.

Jones was accustomed to wearing light-coloured clothing to school. However, he avoids wearing them now.

What was once a female-dominated profession is becoming increasingly gender-netural, and more men than ever before are applying for post-graduate certificates of education (PGCE) in the field.

The university has launched Men in Primary, a scheme offering support for male students through a mentoring programme and a series of workshops.