BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC):

Concerned about the small number of men entering the teaching profession, the Barbados government is making it a national objective to encourage more qualified Barba-dian men to enter the teaching service.

Minister of Education, Anthony Wood, said his ministry would discuss the issue and implement measures aimed at addressing the problem which he described as being 'near crisis proportion.'

"We have a concern at the ministry that not enough male teachers are being made available to the system. We have to treat it now as a national objective so that the country can benefit," the Minister said in a message to mark the start of Education Month, which is being celebrated this month.

Also in the administration

With it being estimated that there are only 800 men in the teaching service of over 3,000, the Minister said the paucity of men was also reflected at the administrative level where the majority of principals are female.

He said the presence of more male teachers in the system would be beneficial as it would assist with the socialisation of male students.

Wood said the low member of men in the teaching service was related to the pattern of enrolment at the tertiary level.

"The gender imbalance is startling, not particularly so at the primary and secondary level, but at the tertiary level where you have a ration of 70 per cent females to 30 per cent males, and when you look at Humanities where the education courses are, there are few males," the minister added.