According to the figures there were 6899 incidents of violence against school staff in 2002-03, a rise of 1487 from the previous year.

Around 35% of incidents took place in primary schools and 27% in secondaries, with 36% in special schools and 2% in pre-school centres.

Only 4% of the incidents were reported to the police, but 64% (4400) involved teachers.

Twenty-five per cent of the incidents involved verbal abuse, 45% physical violence and 29% physical violence and verbal abuse.

However, the Executive urged caution in interpreting the figures because of variation in the recording methods employed by education authorities.

The Executive stressed that the figures given were for reported incidents, and it was not valid to conclude that the actual number of incidents had increased.

Each council has established its own system for collecting information about incidents and the different systems have led to a clear difference between education authorities in the level of reporting incidents. There was evidence that those with the largest increases believed this was due to improved reporting.

Analysis of the figures showed that 20 councils reported increases in their figures, but 11 reported reductions. One council reported a 22,900% increase in incidents last year while one reported a 83% decrease.

Scottish education minister Peter Peacock said differences in reporting methods produced questionable data and he ordered an immediate review of how the Executive obtains such evidence.

He said, “Teachers have a right to work without fear or disruption. That is why I have made improving discipline and behaviour a top priority. But effective policy-making requires effective evidence on which to base decisions.”

Fife Council said today that specialist training for teachers in its special schools has helped secure the first reduction in violent incidents against school staff since 1997.

The number of incidents reduced to 588 in 2002-3 from 650 in the previous year.