Education Minister Terry Lister is hoping a new documentary will help boost the number of male teachers.

Males currently make up only 18 percent of teachers in the Government system.

?It is very much an imbalance,? Mr. Lister said. ?Primarily because in recent years men have gone off to other careers, especially in the Primary schools.?

Mr. Lister said the imbalance was worth addressing.

?That is something we would like to get up in Primary Schools but at the same time we also need lots of men in Senior and Middle schools as well,? he said. ?These men recognise the importance of male teachers being there for our boys and girls to serve as role models for our young men and to show females how they should be treated by males.

?We do want more of our male students to feel comfortable with their intelligence and to strive for both academic and vocational excellence.?

Former professionals who left lucrative careers to teach, including former accountant Carlton Best who now teaches P2 at Northlands Primary, were particularly noteworthy.

?Mr. Best clearly states that he would not do anything else and that there is nothing more rewarding than positively influencing the young mind,? Mr. Lister said. ?This 30-minute documentary gives a real sense of what it is like to be a teacher in our system and why it is so important that we strive to correct the imbalance that we are now experiencing with respect to the male-to-female ratio.?

However, he said a lack of male teachers is a problem around the world.

?In fact appeals for more male teachers are being made as far and wide as China,? he said.

He said the male teachers featured in ?The Males in Public Education? documentary ? which was the brainchild of Kenneth Caesar ? not only conveyed their passion for their subjects but their commitment to being good role models.

Mr. Lister said Mr. Caesar, a former teacher at West End Primary, was currently a member of the Bermuda Education Strategic Team (BEST), an initiative designed to make the public school system the first choice of parents.

?Mr. Caesar felt it was very important that the public be made more aware of the efforts of the men that currently serve in the public school system both as administrators and teachers,? Mr. Lister said. ?He believed the testimonies of these men would not only inspire public confidence but also encourage men to take up the challenge of educating our young people.?

Describing the documentary as ?powerful and well produced?, Mr. Lister said it featured 17 male teachers engaged in real conversations about the importance of males in public schools.

The film which will be shown at the Leopards Club tomorrow afternoon at 12.30 p.m.