Fewer men are entering the classroom

The General Teaching Council for Scotland has raised concern over figures showing that the proportion of male teachers has dropped to an all-time low.

The fall came to light in the Scottish Executive's education department annual census, published last month.

The council is warning that the problem will only increase unless there is a recruitment campaign aimed specifically at men.

It is simply not healthy to have an unbalanced teaching profession Matthew MacIver, General Teaching Council for Scotland

Since 1999 the number of men teaching in Scottish state secondaries has fallen by more than 300, to 11,003.

Council chief executive Matthew MacIver said: "The lack of men coming into the profession is very worrying and marks a continuing trend.

"It is simply not healthy to have an unbalanced teaching profession, but sadly not enough young men leaving school now consider teaching an attractive option."

He said there was still a widely-held perception that teaching was a "woman's job".

Role models

Jim Docherty, of the Scottish Secondary Teachers Association, warned that the gender imbalance was likely to widen over the next decade.

He warned that the shortage of men meant that teenage boys were being denied important role models.