News

According to statistics from the Teaching Agency the number of men training as primary school teachers has risen by 50% in the last four years.

The number of men going into primary teaching is growing at five times the rate of women, according to the TA and they are launching two new schemes to encourage more men into primary teaching.

The Primary Experience programme will be open to male graduates who register their interest in primary teaching and meet the eligibility criteria for teacher training. Up to 1,000 places in schools across the country will give men ten days’ work experience in a school before they start training.

Male graduates who are interested in teaching will also be put in contact with ‘inspirational’ male primary teachers, to help them gain an insight into the career and day-to-day life in the classroom.

Lin Hinnigan, interim chief executive of the Teaching Agency said, ‘Primary teaching is increasingly a career for the most able graduates. It offers the opportunity to earn a good salary and progress quickly.’

The Teaching Agency also emphasised that teachers are twice as likely as other graduates to progress to management jobs after three-and-a-half years, than other graduates.