A UNION has opened a hotline for any teacher in Scotland to report concerns about incidents of pupil indiscipline.

Teachers will be able to report concerns by text or voicemail. The National Association of Schoolmasters/Union of Women Teachers (NASWUT) says it will issue regular statements about information gathered on the hotline.

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The move comes amid a rolling programme of ballots across the country, with teachers at around 200 schools involved in a dispute with the Scottish Government.

As well as the hotline’s launch, industrial action short of strikes will begin in relation to pupil indiscipline, following on from similar instructions over workload.

Chris Keates, acting NASUWT general secretary, said: “The hotline will provide us with up-to-the-minute information on how teachers are feeling about this important issue.

“In addition, the schools involved in the current phase of the NASUWT’s national action short of strike action instructions will receive further specific instructions to assist teachers in dealing with failure of schools and employers to respond to referrals of unacceptable behaviour and inappropriate restorative behaviour policies.

“No teacher should go to work with the expectation that they will be either verbally or physically abused, and while they are members of the NASUWT they will not.”