Rare as hen's teeth

With few males working as primary school teachers it is likely many students enter high school having only ever been taught by women.

Out of the South West’s nearly 1400 primary school teachers, just one in six are males and enrolments in primary teaching at Edith Cowan University’s South West campus indicate the ratio is unlikely to change any time soon.

Nearly 50 per cent of public high school teachers in the South West education district are males.

State School Teachers’ Union president Anne Gisborne said while it was important for a school’s teaching staff to reflect the community’s gender and ethnic make-up, having few male primary school teachers was not necessarily a bad thing.

‘‘As I understand it there is no research to indicate that this is having any detriment on young people,’’ Mrs Gisborne said.

‘‘There is even some research that indicates women deliver better opportunities for young people.’’

Mrs Gisborne said changed community perception and increased sensitivities relating to paedophilia were issues which could have caused some males to dismiss primary teaching.

‘‘There is a view that men are more vulnerable in being put in a compromising position or accusations being made against them and I think these are the sorts of things that are possibly not assisting in terms of drawing men into it,’’ Mrs Gisborne said.

Department of Education executive director workforce Cliff Gillam said it was important students had both male and female teachers throughout their schooling years and the department was ‘‘continually working to attract more male primary teachers into the public system’’.

Just 10 per cent of students studying a Bachelor of Primary Education or Bachelor of Education Primary to Middle Years at ECU’s South West campus are males.

However, there is less of a difference in the Graduate Diploma in Education with males making up 27 per cent of enrolments.

Holding a Bachelor of Science degree and with 30 years scientific researching experience behind him, Peter Jelinek is one of them, leaving a high paying job to enrol.

Not concerned about money or community perception, the 55-year-old said his decision was driven by a desire for job satisfaction.

‘‘It’s going to be a big pay drop for me but the amount of satisfaction totally out-weighs the drop in money,’’ Mr Jelinek said.