No Sir: A quarter of primary schools do not have a single male teacher



Just 25,500 men teach young children, compared with 139,500 women

Quarter of male teachers in primaries are over 50



Yes, Miss: Female teachers outnumber males in primary schools. (Posed by models)

A quarter of primary schools do not have a single male teacher.

Staffrooms in 4,278 of the 16,971 primaries in England are solely populated by women, according to official figures yesterday.

There are just 25,500 men teaching young children, compared with 139,500 women.

To make matters worse, a quarter of the male teachers in primaries are over 50 and close to leaving the profession.

The worrying trend leaves tens of thousands of boys with little or no contact with an adult male before they reach secondary school.

And with dwindling numbers of male secondary teachers, some could finish their education without being taught by a man.

The figures, released by the Department for Education, have raised fears that bad behaviour will rise among boys whose lives lack male authority. The problem is most acute for youngsters who rarely, or never, see their father.

Ministers under the previous government pressed teacher trainers to recruit more men. However, the Coalition has lifted this pressure, shifting the focus to the recruitment of more highly qualified teachers.

Nick Seaton, of the Campaign for Real Education, said: ‘These are shocking figures. Young boys especially need male role models.

‘Ideally each school should have at least two male teachers to provide a male perspective on life.’

The figures show that the area with the highest proportion of primary schools without a single male teacher is Bedford where 61 per cent of schools, a total of 31, do not have a ‘Sir’ on the staff.



The figure in Central Bedfordshire is 57 per cent, Northumberland 53 per cent, North Yorkshire 48 per cent, West Berkshire 45 per cent, and Windsor and Maidenhead 44 per cent.

Areas that have 100 or more primary schools without any male teachers are North Yorkshire on 154, Essex 151, Hampshire 148, Derbyshire 139, Hertfordshire 128, Surrey 120, Norfolk 115, Lancashire 115, Kent 104, and Cumbria 100.

Problem: The trend leaves tens of thousands of boys with little or no contact with an adult male before they reach secondary school (file picture)

At the other end of the spectrum, just one of 29 schools in Blackpool and two of 66 in the east London borough of Newham are women-only.

Conservative MP Philip Hollobone has raised the issue in the Commons.

He said: ‘This is especially a problem because there are more and more families where children are growing up without a father.

‘The teachers in primary school are overwhelmingly women, and they do a great job.

‘But it would be even better if there were more male teachers to act as role models, particularly to young boys.’

A DfE spokesman said: ‘Quality of teaching in our schools is what we should all be looking at, regardless of gender.

‘Our job is to recruit the best men and women into the profession and give them outstanding training.

‘We’ve extended Teach First to primary schools so top graduates will be placed directly into deprived schools.

‘We’re offering bursaries of up to £20,000 to plug the gap in subjects where posts are tough to fill.