IT IS a problem that dares not speak its name: sexual harassment of newly qualified women teachers by their students is something that exists in anecdotal evidence only and can range from sexually-loaded verbal abuse to actual physical assaults or intimidation.

Fear of losing face, of jeopardising future job prospects, of incurring the wrath of parents who could blame the teacher for being incompetent - these are just some of the reasons cited by the unions as to why such incidences go unreported.

When Louise, who is 23, qualified as a secondary schoolteacher she knew that class management and discipline would be top of the agenda. What she didn't know was that she would have to contend with a level of sexual harassment for which she was completely unprepared.

"I was teaching a mixed class of final year students," says Louise. "There was one guy who had been acting up all throughout the class. I had told him to keep quiet a dozen times, but to no avail.

"At the end of the period, the class dispersed and I began to clear the blackboard. I turned around and the pupil in question was coming towards me. He pinned me up against the blackboard and basically propositioned me. I froze. I didn't know what to do. I couldn't retreat any further - I was already pinned to the wall.

"He was twice as big as me and I felt very intimidated. He was standing up really close to me and asking me what I was doing after school, saying things like What about you and me, miss?"

"I told him to get out, not in such polite terms, and realised afterwards that I'd probably handled the situation all wrong. Afterwards I would meet him in the school corridors and still feel very intimidated.

"I didn't report what had happened because I didn't want to ruin, any chances to get work at the school in the future. Right now I'm very conscious about being in a classroom on my own and I'd definitely think twice about taking a job in an all-boys secondary school," says Louise.

Other anecdotes include an incident in which a young woman teacher had her bottom pinched. Another even had to deal with a student masturbating in the classroom.

The question is this: how many young, newly-qualified women teachers are silently enduring an unacceptable level of harassment in the classroom? According to the Teachers' Union of Ireland, this is not an issue that is widely reported. This makes it very difficult to establish any accurate picture of the scale of the problem.

Declan Glynn, the TUI's assistant general secretary and equality officer, says that he has anecdotal evidence of several incidences of sexual harassment of young women teachers. "Teachers who have been harassed sexually are reluctant to highlight the fact says Glynn. "They feel that if they make a claim against a student they will be persecuted for not having adequate discipline in the classroom in the first place. The incidence would be fairly small but it is of growing concern.

The comprehensive code of practice for dealing with sexual harassment from the TUI and the Association of Secondary Teachers of Ireland is clear. It states that complaints of sexual harassment must always be treated seriously and in a sensitive manner.

As defined by the two organisations, sexual harassment can include: John White, the ASTI's assistant general secretary, says that the association is very concerned about sexual harassment of women teachers. "The matter should be dealt with through the normal disciplinary structures in a school," he says. "It is entirely unacceptable to us that anyone should be subject to any form of sexual harassment. Our advice is that the principal should be immediately informed. We take the view that, depending on the gravity of the situation, the pupil in question should be expelled or suspended."

SO, what amounts to unacceptable behaviour? According to John White, this is simply defined. "If the person on the receiving end finds something unacceptable, then it is unacceptable. Four incidences of sexual harassment have come to my attention and in all four cases the school principal was alerted and the school management board acted appropriately.

The ASTI would be very concerned if a school's authorities did not take a matter of this nature seriously, says White.

Peadar Cremin is head of education at Mary Immaculate College in Limerick, which trains students for both primary and second-level schools. Teacher training tries to prepare students for all eventualities, he says, but in reality this is not possible.

"When the students go out on teaching practice they have a lot of back up," says Cremin. "They have supervisers, the college staff and their peers to support them. But it's quite different during the first year of a young teacher's working life and often they do not have the same supports in place."

Dr Mona O'Moore, senior lecturer in the department of teacher education and registrar for the department at Trinity College, Dublin, the issue comes under class management."It is very important to report incidences of sexual harassment and nobody should feel weak about doing so," she says.