I can only hope that the result will be significant increases in circulation and advertising.
There is no better way to stay fully informed than to read the local newspaper.
Once-over-lightly TV and radio bulletins just don't cut it.
And now to a matter which has been of grave national concern for decades now - the paucity of male teachers, particularly in our primary schools and in early childhood education.
I grieved when I read the other day that latest New Zealand Teachers' Council figures reveal that of more than 100,000 registered teachers with practising certificates nationally just over 20,000 are male.
That at least one primary school in the Bay of Plenty has no men at all on the teaching staff this year, and that as a general rule the percentage of male staff at any school is 10 per cent - at best.
And that the Early Childhood Council estimates that of the 1100 centres it represents, 2 per cent of staff are male.
It is more important to have good male role models teaching in our schools today than it has ever been - because tens of thousands of kids now live in single-parent (usually mum only) homes.
So it is good news that real efforts are being made to recruit men into primary and early childhood education.
Sadly, however, they will have an uphill battle. Some say that men see teaching as less than "manly" and others that they can earn more in other fields. But the real reason is somewhat different and seems to be mentioned only in passing.
In Britain a few years ago, when a campaign to recruit more male teachers was under way, Graham Holley, then chief executive of the British Training and Development Agency for Schools, put his finger right on it.
"The biggest obstacle is society's attitude," he said. "Men are deterred partly because there is a prurient element of society that questions the motivation when men wish to work closely with young children.
"That is an immensely sad indictment of the way, in this so-called enlightened century, we can still be so uncritically suspicious of people who share the most selfless of motives: to help improve young lives.
"This fear of being labelled a paedophile is the single biggest deterrent to men who would otherwise consider teaching in our primary schools. Yet there is no evidence that our children are at widespread risk from men who want to teach. Quite the reverse.
"There are tight and straightforward vetting procedures in place ... Yet there is a quiet, conspiratorial squeamishness when a man says he wants to do so. This is madness. I would urge men to overcome their fears. The difference that they can make to the lives of young people as a teacher by far outweighs any lingering concerns they might have about what others might think.
"And society needs to grow up."
Amen to that.
garth.george@hotmail.com
