Michael D Higgins (Galway West, Labour)
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Question 56: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if his attention has been drawn to recent INTO concerns at the falling number of males entering the teaching profession; if his attention has further been drawn to the fact that radical changes are required in the selection process of trainee teachers to reverse this trend; if the requirement of a C grade in leaving certificate Irish is an impediment to males entering teaching in view of the fact that they generally fare worse than females in this subject; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14345/04]

Noel Dempsey (Meath, Fianna Fail)
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I am concerned about the position of imbalance between male and female applicants for the primary teaching profession. My Department commissioned a research study on the issue of take-up of primary teacher training by males and females. The report on the study, which was completed in 2002, showed that the pool of males with the necessary qualifications is smaller than the equivalent pool of females. In addition, many third level course choices seemed to be gender stereotyped and significantly more girls were attracted to teaching of all kinds. The authors concluded that it may be difficult for any society to bring about an early reversal of the feminisation trends in teaching. I have established a primary education committee which is working under the auspices of the gender equality unit of my Department and is looking at the concerns about the numbers of males entering the primary teaching profession. I have asked the committee to make recommendations on strategies and initiatives to increase the number of males entering primary teaching. I understand that the INTO report on gender imbalance in primary teaching, which was published at Easter 2004, and the requirement of a C grade in higher level leaving certificate Irish has formed part of the deliberations of the committee.

The committee first met in October 2003 and is expected to submit to me shortly an interim report of its considerations to date. I look forward to receiving the final report by late autumn 2004.