A “cultural shift” is urgently needed in Renfrewshire classrooms, an MSP has warned, as abuse directed at teachers soars.
New figures, obtained by Paul O’Kane MSP, show that the number of aggressive, abusive and violent incidents in Renfrewshire high schools has rocketed by 500 per cent in the past five years.
In the 2023/24 year alone, there were 90 incidents of abuse directed at teachers from pupils aged between 11 and 18; between the academic years 2019-20 and 2024-25 there have been 256 incidents.
And while figures for the years 2020 and 2021 are reduced due to the pandemic, they have continued to rise ever since.
The sheer scale of the problem means “difficult questions must be asked” about school culture, Mr O’Kane has said.
The MSP for West Scotland – who has written to the head of education at Renfrewshire Council calling for a meeting – said more work is needed to understand why violence in schools is rising.
He told the Express: “We know from recent reports that violence towards teachers is currently a huge problem but I think some serious questions must be asked about why incidents are rising.
“School staff are the backbone of our education system and it’s absolutely unacceptable that any one of them should be going to their work expecting to be met with abuse or violence.
“For these inexcusable acts towards teaching staff to be increasing, the well understood social dynamic between teachers and pupils must be changing for the worse in our schools and it’s crucial that we understand why that is”.
Mr O’Kane has, however, together with teaching unions, highlighted that many incidents of aggression come from children with additional support needs or long-term behavioural problems.
Both he and the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS), the biggest teachers union in Renfrewshire, would like to see greater investment in staff and resources to better support children in mainstream schools.
Maggie Russell, joint secretary of EIS Renfrewshire, said: “Violence as a result of dysregulated behaviour is clearly a concern for the EIS in Renfrewshire.
“The EIS continues to argue that the successful inclusion [of ASN pupils] requires adequate funding. Budget constraints, however, have reduced access to support for learning teachers, classroom assistants, and ASN staff and that is giving rise to pressures and stresses for some pupils struggling to access the curriculum and creating the potential for violent behaviours. The increase in the number of incidents of abuse or physical violence may even be an under-reporting of the reality in classrooms which is why it is so vital that teachers are encouraged to report every incident in the knowledge that supports will be put in place.”
A Renfrewshire Council spokesperson said the local authority would be happy to discuss the issue further with Mr O’Kane.
He said: “The health and wellbeing of our children, young people and staff is our highest priority and we take all incidences of violence and aggression seriously.
“Our recently updated policy ensures robust processes are in place and we provide extensive training and support to our school staff on the universal and targeted interventions available to support children and young people, how staff can support distressed and dysregulated behaviour, and how to report any incidents accurately.
“We recognise the impact these incidents can have on staff and work hard to support them following an incident taking place by tailoring our support to each individual’s needs.”
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