Parents made the call last night for more male teachers in the public school system.

Speaking at a public Bermuda Education Strategic Team (BEST) forum held at the Anglican Cathedral Hall last night, one parent stressed the part male teachers play as role models for Bermuda?s boys, saying that after the April 4 violence at Wellington Oval that role was more important than ever.

If boys had a man to look up to, ?maybe they wouldn?t feel so hopeless,? she said.

However, it was not as simple as just bringing in more male teachers, teacher Kenneth Caesar pointed out.

?Every man brings something different to the plate,? he said. Male educators have to be ?the right males?, and they have to be males who want to take up the role of education.

?It?s an inner thing.?

Chief Education Officer Dr. Joseph Christopher added: ?A school is a social organisation. The expectation of women are different from the expectations of men. And the expectations women have of boys is different from that men have of boys.?

With a greater proportion of female teachers in schools, boys were often treated from the woman?s perspective, he said.

?It affects the way boys are dealt with ... It?s a more important reason to have males in the school system to bring in the male perspective.?