Male teachers scarce in Wairarapa classes | Wairarapa News | Local News in Wairarapa

Paedophile hysteria is eliminating men from early childhood teaching in Wairarapa and across the country, says Early Childhood Council chief executive Peter Reynolds.

He said early childhood teaching was one of the most gender-segregated professions in the region and the country, with men making up less than 2 per cent of teacher numbers in the sector.

"While an increasing number of New Zealand families would like men to be teaching their under-5s, the men are not there to be employed, " Mr Reynolds said.

"There is a significant shortfall of men in early childhood and the primary school sectors and that scarcity is driven by the paedophile hysteria of the early 1990s.

"Imagine there's a male teacher in the playground when a child falls over. He may hug that child and comfort them but people today would look sideways at that teacher. If you were a man, would you risk entering that profession?

"It's a cultural issue and the number of men in the sector has fallen through the floor because of it. And often all it would take for a blameless man to leave the profession is a frown, a suggestion being made, or a quiet conversation in an office somewhere."

Mr Reynolds made a call for teacher trainers to get "more active in the promotion of our sector to men" and said New Zealand needed to emulate countries such as Scotland, Norway and Denmark, where an increase in male teacher numbers had been achieved.

"The absence of men from early childhood centres robs families of the right to choose male teachers. But it cannot be remedied by early childhood centres on their own because you can't employ male teachers who do not exist," Mr Reynolds said.

"Such segregation would not be tolerated in law or medicine. And it is unacceptable in a sector with the fundamentally important job of helping ensure our youngest of children arrive at school ready to learn."

The absence of men from primary and early childhood education had effectively barred thousands of children from all but the most destructive of men, Mr Reynolds said.

The paedophile hysteria of the 1990s had caused many men to disengage from caring for children.

"But the worst of that nonsense is over and there is now a renewed desire from families and centres for there to be many more men working in the early childhood sector," he said.

"There are stringent checks and balances today, police vetting and qualification checks, so parents can be assured of male teachers of good quality and demeanour."