TRAINEE teachers are to be given more training on how to tackle rowdy pupils as part of a new recruitment drive.
Scottish Ministers believe the offer of more support in dealing with classroom disorder will help encourage more people to choose a teaching career.
Prospective teachers will also be offered the chance to study part-time and on distance learning
courses to make it easier for them to undergo training.
The Scottish Executive hopes that the measures will help to meet targets of recruiting 53,000 teachers by 2007. It is hoped the strategy will also help to reduce class sizes in key subjects such as maths and English.
The initiatives were unveiled today at the end of an 18-month review by the Scottish Executive into improving teacher training. The Initial Teacher Education review aims to ensure teachers are better prepared for life in a school. Universities and councils are also set to work more closely together to improve student teacher placements.
The measures recognise that issues such as bad behaviour are a modern-day problem which must be tackled, according to Education Minister Peter Peacock.
Trainee teachers will be taught more about classroom management and issues relating to discipline and additional support needs.
Ministers have also pledged to replace the current arrangements for student teacher placements with better managed and more strategic local authority arrangements.
Mr Peacock said: "Scotland has a reputation for producing high-quality teachers and that is something we can be proud of.
"But we must acknowledge that the challenges facing teachers today are very different from those of the past.
"Our challenge is to ensure that new teachers leave university fully equipped with the skills and qualities they need to help shape the future generation of ambitious, confident Scots.
"We also need to ensure that those who want to train to be teachers can have more opportunities to do so. We can help this by removing some of the hurdles from their path.
"For instance, we know that part-time or distance learning courses are more suitable for those who simply cannot leave home to study full-time.
"Great teachers make a real difference to children's lives. The outcomes of this review will ensure that future generations of teachers can look forward to better training to prepare them for their time in the classroom."
Student loans must be replaced with grants because graduates cannot cope with the massive debts they accrued at university, the Scottish Parliament heard today.
SNP shadow minister for education, Fiona Hyslop MSP, led a debate into graduate debt this morning.
She urged ministers to support SNP plans to extend grants in a bid to reduce the average £19,000 of debt per head which Scottish students accrue at university.
"We need to examine the public purse bill of more than £100 million annually simply for servicing the debt on the loan and the sustainability of that burden should interest rates rise," Ms Hyslop said.
