Role models needed

Although, this year, there has been an unusual 19 per cent increase in the number of male applications to teach in primary schools, the overall proportion remains at the alarmingly low figure of 13 per cent, where it has been for many decades. This means one male teacher per average junior school. It follows that most boys will pass through primary education without being taught by a man for any length of time - and this when the number of children in lone-parent families continues to increase. One could debate at length the possible psychological effects on boys of the absence of male role figures but just imagine the outcry there would be if the gender imbalance were reversed.