Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has issued a strong call for more men to enter the teaching profession, warning that a lack of positive male role models is contributing to what she described as a “defining issue of our time” – the wellbeing and development of boys in modern Britain.
Speaking at the inaugural Festival of Childhood, organised by the Children’s Commissioner for England, Phillipson pointed to rising concerns around “toxic online influences” and the urgent need for boys to be guided by male figures in their formative years. Her comments come as the critically acclaimed Netflix series Adolescence has sparked widespread debate on the vulnerability of boys to online misogyny and harmful digital content.
“It’s clear the behaviour of boys, their influences, and the young men they become is a defining issue of our time,” Phillipson told attendees. “We need to raise a generation of boys with the strength to reject that hatred – with curiosity, compassion, kindness, resilience, hope and respect.”
Highlighting the gender imbalance in teaching, Phillipson noted that only one in four teachers in UK schools are men, dropping to just one in seven in nursery and primary education, and a mere one in 33 in early years roles. While teacher numbers have increased by 28,000 since 2010, only 533 of those have been men, a statistic she called “extraordinary.”
The Labour education secretary stressed that while schools are a critical part of the solution, families also have a central role to play. “Schools can’t solve these problems alone, and responsibility starts at home with parents,” she said. “But our boys also need strong, positive male role models at school.”
Phillipson joins a line of education secretaries who have expressed concern about the lack of male teachers, particularly in early education. However, academic research has been mixed on the impact of male teachers on boys' academic performance or behaviour, with few studies demonstrating clear benefits solely based on teacher gender.
Rachel de Souza, the Children’s Commissioner for England, also addressed the festival, warning that children are becoming increasingly disconnected from society and are turning to the internet for answers. “Children want to be listened to. They want to be heard,” she said. “But some of the foundations of childhood are cracking. A different version of childhood is playing out – one that we are struggling to be honest about.”
De Souza called for a national reckoning with the realities of modern childhood, including digital exposure and the growing influence of artificial intelligence. She announced plans to launch an investigation into mobile phone usage in schools, trust in law enforcement among children, and the psychological effects of deepfake technology.
“If we want children to experience the vivid technicolour of life – the joy of childhood, the innocence of youth – we have to prove we will respond more quickly to them than ChatGPT,” she added.
Together, Phillipson and De Souza’s remarks underscore a growing consensus: that urgent, systemic action is needed to support boys, restore meaningful connection, and ensure all children are raised in a nurturing, resilient society.
Speaking to Asian Voice, Kavitha Ravindran, Co-founder of the digital learning app Synaptic, said, “About 75% of teachers are women, and the imbalance is particularly stark in primary education. While there are more male teachers in secondary schools, boys still lack regular exposure to positive male role models in the classroom. Just as girls benefit from seeing women in leadership, boys need to see men in nurturing, educational roles. The issue isn’t whether we agree—most of us do—but how we put this into practice. The real challenge is making teaching an attractive, viable career path for men. That’s the million-dollar question we need to answer if we want a more balanced and inclusive system.”
