RECRUITING male teachers, especially for primary schools, is proving a headache for head teachers.

Overall, only 21 per cent of teachers employed by Blackburn with Darwen education authority are men, compared to a national average of 32 per cent.

And at primary school level, the number of male teachers drops to 14.5 per cent in the borough compared to 31 per cent in secondary.

More worryingly still, the number of male teachers the borough does employ will fall over the coming years as a high percentage are over 45.

Schools covered by Lancashire County Council are also short of men in teaching. Across the county there are 7,340 women compared to 2,736 men in the profession. Now, as a national Teacher training Agency campaign is launched to recruit more teachers generally, council chiefs are looking at how to increase the number of male role models in schoolchildren's lives.

Cabinet member for education at Blackburn with Darwen, Council Coun Mahfooz Hussain, blames a shortage of men taking an interest in teacher training, but said it was unclear why the local figures were so low.

He added: "The problem stems from a national shortage of men training and is being tackled nationally by the Teacher Training Agency, which is working hard to encourage more men into the profession.

"We make sure that Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council uses all possible routes into teaching that are available, to make sure there are no barriers to anyone wanting to join the profession.

"If any men locally are interested in teaching, they are welcome to contact us to see how we can help them."

Blackburn with Darwen's education and lifelong learning overview and scrutiny committee, attended by councillors, diocesan representatives and parent governors, has concluded that the use of non teaching assistants and classroom assistants was an opportunity to have more male influence within schools.

The LEA has also employed two Recruitment Strategy Managers but it is still not clear what puts men off. At Lancashire County Council work, praised by Whitehall, has helped tackle recruitment issues in East Lancashire.

But overall there is a huge drive to attract more people into the profession. The latest Teacher Training Agency campaign, which builds on the 'Those Who Can, Teach' motto, aims to recruit thousands more teachers this year.

It is homing in on graduates that are dissatisfied with their existing jobs and hopes to encourage more men to join the profession.

While there have been redundancies in some areas this year, the TTA says it needs to recruit a further 35,000 teachers nationwide.

Ralph Tabberer, chief executive of the TTA, said that although there might be a shortage of men in East Lancashire, the profession still had a "big appetite" for more teachers of both sexes.

"We need more teachers overall and our main aim is to show teaching as a career in a positive light," he said.

To find out more about becoming a teacher contact www.useyourheadteach.gov.uk or call 0845 6000991.