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Achieving real gender balance in the early years continues to flummox countries across the world. On average in OECD countries, just 3.2 per cent of pre-primary teachers are male, with the rate lower than 1 per cent in most of Eastern Europe, Israel and Portugal.
Despite a 20 per cent minimum target for male workers set by the European Commission in 1996, the proportion of male staff in the workforce remains persistently low across the globe, with only three countries – Norway, Denmark and Turkey – managing over 5 per cent.
Even world-leader Norway seems to be stalling in its progress, hovering just below the 10 per cent mark.
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