Men could soon be sweating over sewing, trying to cook a Sunday roast with laughing five-year-olds, or helping a class with weaving. For the government is to back a major scheme to encourage fathers into schools after fresh evidence that visiting their children in the classroom increases academic achievement and leads to better behaviour.

In one example, Gareth Todd-Jones, head of the Pen Pych community primary school in Mid-Glamorgan, [...said]

'The valley, one of the most deprived areas in Europe, is an old mining town and a lot of people have a rough, tough image of what it is to be a man [...] They were not meant to do anything with their children.

'But they are now going camping with their children, doing cooking classes, making cards for Mothers' Day, woodwork, sewing and making weaving frames,' he said.

There are now 20 fathers and grandfathers in the Pen Pych Superdads group, and Todd-Jones is planning to print beer mats with 'Superdads Pen Pych' on one side and an invitation to join on the other.

Julie Mellor, head of the Equal Opportunities Commission [said ...]

'In 21st-century families, fathers are doing a third of the parental childcare. That's eight times what it was 30 years ago. Then they spent 15 minutes a day on childcare; now it's two hours..'
[...]
'Whichever party wins the general election, fathers will continue to be pushed unwillingly into the role of main breadwinner, and mothers will largely be left holding the baby while working for less than fair wages,' she said.