More must be done to tackle violence in Scotland’s schools, according to West of Scotland MSP Jamie Greene.

The Conservative MSP recently raised the issue at Holyrood, saying tens of thousands of attacks on school staff take place each year.

Mr Greene believes more must be done to halt the rising number of cases of violence, and has called on the Scottish Government to address the problem.

He explained: “There have been 75,000 incidents of physical or verbal attacks by pupils against teachers and school staff over the last five years, not including this year.

“Last year there were nearly 20,000 such attacks, including 191 incidents involving the potential carrying of a dangerous item and 64 were so serious that they were actually reported to the police.

“We have been raising this issue in this parliament for years because the problem ahs been on the rise for years.

“The reality is that teachers are at their wits end. They should not be afraid to go into work in the morning.

“Something has to change, so what will change and when will it change?”

Jenny Gilruth, cabinet secretary for education and skills, believes the pandemic had a big impact on behaviour in schools, and admitted teachers needed more support to deal with violence.

She said: “I think fundamentally we first of all need to recognise that Covid has changed the culture in our schools.

“It’s changing relationships and behaviour, but it’s also changing things like attendance that we need to be cognizant of.

“We also need to better support our school staff to respond to those incidents when they become extreme.”