SNP Education Secretary urged to make urgent statement on soaring school violence

Lib Dem MSP Willie Rennie said Jenny Gilruth must respond to the Daily Record exclusive on

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SNP Ministers have been urged to make a statement to Holyrood after figures showed a 20 per cent rise in “out of control” violence from pupils.

We revealed yesterday school support staff are being forced to wear protective clothing after a massive rise in assaults and abuse over the last year.

The GMB Scotland trade union said some councils have recorded twice as many incidents as in 2023.

Lib Dem MSP Willie Rennie said Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth must come to Parliament: “This dramatic increase in school violence is a deep concern.

“This problem has been festering for years and yet the SNP have failed to take the necessary action.

“Councils and schools should be empowered to respond to bullying and violence appropriately. Instead, the Education Secretary seems content with very long new guidance that is making little impact.

“Teachers, parents and pupils deserve better. The Scottish Government must make an urgent statement to parliament explaining how they will tackle school violence."

It comes after Keir Greenaway from the GMB revealed the scale of the crisis across Scotland:

“In Glasgow, the number of incidents climbed 30 per cent in 2024 to 6081, and in Shetland, 1794 incidents were recorded up 81 per cent on 2023,” he said.

“In Stirling, there were 836 violent or threatening incidents in schools, up 16 per cent on 2023, including 322 assaults on support staff and 278 on teachers.

“There were 65 assaults reported by staff in early years education involving children under five.

“In Inverclyde, where the number of violent or threatening incidents in schools more than doubled, climbing by 102 per cent to 478 in 2024, there were 235 assaults by pupils with additional support needs and 183 by other pupils."

He said the figures are the "tip of the iceberg” and claimed more support staff are needed or children with additional needs and their classmates will be failed.

“The level of support offered to children with ASN in our classrooms is undoubtedly a factor in this crisis and that demands to be properly reviewed and addressed”, he said.

“The policy of inclusion without sustained and effective pupil support will fail children and staff.

“Even with partial and inconsistent figures from some councils, the crisis is clear but the scale of it remains far, far greater than these statistics suggest."

He added: “Our members are being hurt and abused on a scale that would be absolutely unacceptable in any workplace. Any workplace, apparently, but our classrooms.

“Many support staff tie up their hair to stop it being pulled and they are wearing long-sleeved, protective vests beneath their clothes to protect them from scratches and bites.

“That is the daily reality for many of our members whose fears have been ignored for years while the authorities wring their hands but do little more.”

The move comes amid the Record’s youth violence campaign, Our Kids ... Our Future, which was launched in 2023 after a worrying trend of violence among teenagers.

The campaign was sparked by a series of shocking attacks on young people, often filmed and shared on social media, most notably the assault of 12-year-old Abbie Jarvis.

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