We must not duck the issue of violence in the classroom - Stephen Kerr

But in recent years, something has gone terribly wrong. Scotland has slipped down the international league tables on education to the point where the SNP have stopped participating in them.

There are multiple causes for this, and all deserve their own detailed study. The one this article will focus on is disruption and violence in the classroom, which is impacting the learning environment.

Over the past five years, there have been over 70,000 assaults against teachers and staff in Scotland’s classrooms. Teachers in Glasgow and Aberdeen have been on strike due to assaults.

And it is a problem we have seen here in Falkirk. As revealed by Councillor James Bundy, there has been a 989 per cent increase in the rate of assaults teachers and staff in Falkirk face compared to five years ago.

To put some perspective on this, this equates to 4.95 assaults against teachers and staff in Falkirk’s schools every school day.

How can we expect pupils in Falkirk to excel in this environment?

When Councillor Bundy asked about the rate of assaults against teachers in November last year, he was told that there was “no significant increase” and that it was the “odd incident”.

Rather than hide from the problem, public servants must acknowledge the problem and then ask the tough questions to address it.

It is not only in Falkirk Council where this curiosity is lacking. It is also lacking in the Scottish Parliament.

Damaging blanket approaches and single-goal initiatives are far too common, as seen by the SNP/Green proposals for the botched Deposit Return Scheme and the flawed Gender Reform Act.

The Scottish Parliament requires proper debate, different perspectives, and the reconciling of differing interests.

That is what my Scottish Conservative colleagues and I aim to offer.

Stephen Kerr is a Scottish Conservative MSP for Central Scotland region