Violence in Scotland's schools is now a national crisis. Ministers must act – Scotsman comment

More than eight in ten schools in Scotland experience violent or aggressive incidents every week

Violence and aggression have no place in our schools (Picture: Scott Barbour/Getty Images)

The descent of Scotland’s public services into a state bordering on ruin has been well-documented, with the evidence including a trial project in north-east Scotland in which the police will not investigate some ‘minor’ crimes and the thousands of patients forced to wait for more than two years for NHS treatment.

Now a new report from the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) contains figures that are truly disturbing about the state of education in this country. A survey of some 875 schools found that an astonishing 82.7 per cent report violent or aggressive incidents every week, with 99.8 per cent saying that education was being disrupted as a result.

Alarmingly, more than 26 per cent of teachers said they were not supported by their employer after such incidents, more than double the number, 11 per cent, who said they were. And, if all that was not bad enough, just over half of schools added that they had also seen an increase in violence and aggressive behaviour by parents.

Fundamental building block of the economy

Scottish Conservative education spokesman Liam Kerr stated the obvious truth that “no pupil or member of staff should fear violence in our schools”, and accused SNP ministers of being “asleep at the wheel” over the issue. “Robust action must be taken against those who carry out acts of violence in our schools, and our hardworking teachers must have every resource they need to tackle these problems,” he added.

The danger of allowing the current situation to worsen is that, amid high rates of truancy, even more children will stop turning up for fear of their safety. Furthermore, teachers near to retirement age may well decide to go early, rather than put themselves at risk, and potential replacements may be discouraged from joining the profession.

Education is the fundamental building block of our economy. If schools are allowed to become violent, aggressive and fearful places, then heaven help the society of the future. The knock-on effects of continually disrupted learning are likely to be profound, damaging Scotland’s economy and, therefore, its ability to afford decent services. The Scottish Government must take urgent and decisive action to ensure our schools are safe.