For a long time I've appealed to the Government to increase the number of male teachers in primary schools.

For decades it has remained fixed at about 13 per cent. For 35 years I first taught and then trained others to teach in primary school. When I studied the photographs of the smiling schoolchildren (The Argus, March 10), I hoped to detect an increase in the proportion of male teachers.

Unfortunately I could only recognise - apart from the heads - three in one school, two in another and one in another. And this when the number of young lads living in one-parent families has never been so high.

The importance of a role model to a young lad needs no emphasis.

However, it seems quite possible for a young lad to pass through primary school without being taught for an appreciable length of time by a man.

  • Reg Jenkins, Welbeck Ave Hove