A new study blames the "Peter Ellis syndrome" for the low proportion of males among primary school teachers. Researcher Ian Livingstone's report, "Men in Primary Teaching in New Zealand" was commissioned by the primary teachers' union and was presented at their conference yesterday in Wellington. The findings showed that only one in five primary school teachers are men – however 43% of secondary school teachers were male. Child health researcher Dr Sarah Farquhar says a negative "no contact" policy imposed on primary teachers after the Ellis case does nothing to help paranoia over physical contact with children, and did nothing to dispel distrust of male teachers.
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Tuesday, 23rd September 2003 - 12:00pm