Dundee City Council has been accused of under-reporting school violence, with official figures suggesting staff face a fraction of the incidents compared to colleagues elsewhere in Scotland.
Just 83 incidents of violence and two incidents of verbal abuse were reported against workers in the city’s schools last year.
Other local authorities logged up to 50 times as many as Dundee, a situation described as “simply not credible”.
It compares with 1,634 reports in Perth and Kinross and 911 in Aberdeen.
In Fife, there were 5,630 incidents across all council departments. However, the GMB union says its analysis suggests the majority were in schools.
The focus on incidents comes after teachers in the Kingdom said violence in the classroom had become “normalised”.
Dundee school violence figures ‘alarmingly inaccurate’
The GMB – which represents support stuff including janitors and admin staff – says the council’s figures bore no relation to the experience faced by its members.
The union’s Scotland organiser, Vicki Leonard, said: “The number of incidents recorded in Dundee compared to other councils is alarmingly low and, our members suggest, alarmingly inaccurate.
“If the council is not collecting reliable data reflecting the violence and threats endured by staff then they will be unable to understand the risks and offer proper protection.”
Ms Leonard said the figure in Dundee is not even the tip of the iceberg.
She added: “Rather than taking any comfort from having low figures, the council needs to understand they are massively underestimating the crisis.
“That must change as a matter of urgency and staff must be given the time and encouragement to report incidents properly and should expect those incidents to be properly investigated and acted on.”
Dundee-based North East MSP Michael Marra said the situation is “hugely worrying”.
The Scottish Labour politician said it was “simply not credible” that teachers in the city were facing a fraction of the violence logged elsewhere.
He said: “Dundee City Council must face up to the true extent of the problem so that violence in our schools can be properly tackled.
“No one should be going to work with the daily threat of violence and abuse. It is wholly unacceptable, and the council must take action to protect staff and pupils alike.”
Dundee City Council was approached for comment.
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