The suspension follows an incident with a pupil, who, the Tele was told by a source today, allegedly kicked and verbally abused Mr Barile in front of a class.

The situation has led to concern among staff and parents.

The youngster concerned was said to have been back in school the next day and, as a result, there had been an angry confrontation between Mr Barile and a member of the school management.

Mr Barile was then suspended and had since gone to police to report the incident.

It is claimed by the source that “management at the school is so weak that disruptive pupils are not being dealt with”.

It is also understood Mr Barile wrote to senior council officials over what had happened, and that his trade union, the EIS, has also been in touch with Fife Council.

Mr Barile (49) has made it clear he is unable to comment because of the involvement of the police and the EIS, and because of the disciplinary nature of the investigations.

Head of education Ken Greer said he could confirm Mr Barile’s suspension.

He added, however, that he wanted to refute the allegation in a national daily tabloid that the teacher was suspended because “he complained about a lack of action”.

“This is a serious and complex matter, which will be subject to a disciplinary investigation and, as such, it would be inappropriate for us to comment further until a full investigation has been carried out.

“We are satisfied that appropriate disciplinary action was taken by the school management against the pupil involved and would disagree that the school has problems with discipline.

“In a recent staff survey carried out by Fife Council, the vast majority of staff at Madras reported that pupil behaviour was not a serious problem”

Mr Greer claimed the recent report from HMI on Madras had been generally good.

Madras head teacher Lindsay Matheson said he had been very disappointed to see pupils of the school portrayed as lawless and undisciplined.

“Madras College has a very good reputation within the area and our pupils are known for the high standards they set both in school and outside, where they are involved in a large variety of community work.

“Contrary to reports, the pupil involved in this incident was dealt with by senior management at the time and was excluded from school.

“Earlier this year, HMI inspectors commended the school for its “sense of equality and fairness “in its approach towards pupils and reported that “almost all pupils were responsible and well behaved and teacher-pupil relationships were very positive overall”.