More than 600 staff have been assaulted in classrooms and playgrounds in the north-east in the last year.
The number of pupils reported for assaulting support staff in schools around Aberdeen soared to 393 over the last academic year, while in Aberdeenshire there were 247 attacks recorded against all staff.
New data shows that reported verbal and physical attacks against classroom and pupil support assistants in Aberdeen has gone up significantly in the city in recent years.
During the 2014/15 period 55 physical assaults were noted – but in the 2016/17 period, that number shot up to 393. Verbal incidents increased from 44 to 124 in that period.
Schools in Aberdeenshire reported 54 physical assaults and 12 physical threats in 2014/15, which increased to 68 actual attacks and 16 threats in the last academic year. Verbal assaults dropped from 173 to 155.
Last night Tommy Campbell, regional organiser for the Unite union, said: “This is very alarming, as no employee of the council should go to work and suffer any abuse.
“We will be raising our concerns about this important health and safety matter and we will wait to see what measures the councils’ senior management teams are proposing to prevent the school support staff from suffering the indignity of verbal or physical abuse.”
Both councils insisted the way a change in the way incidents are recorded is part of the reason for the spike in numbers, and said they took the matter very seriously.
Aberdeenshire Labour councillor Alison Evison – who until May was co-leader of the council and chaired the education committee – said: “Teachers and support assistants should be able to feel safe in their place of work.
“I hope that the unions and council officers will be able to work together to address the issues highlighted here.
“Teaching is a very rewarding and enjoyable career and those entering the profession are truly valued.
Opposition councillors in Aberdeen last night vowed to press for further answers – and action.
Councillor David Cameron, the SNP’s education spokesman, said: “These figures raise a number of questions, and if it becomes clear from the answers we receive that action is required, then we will press the council to ensure that happens.”
Martin Greig, former head of the community safety partnership, added: “These professionals deserve to be protected because they put the interests and welfare of young people first.
“There should be penalties, warnings and other actions to protect people in schools. Parents have to be involved because they have a clear duty to take responsibility for their child’s behaviour.”
A spokesman for Aberdeen City Council said that system for school staff to record such incidents was upgraded around the 2014/15 period.
He added: “All staff are now actively encouraged to record any incidents, regardless of severity, through our electronic system.
“This has provided a clearer picture of incidents across the city. Within these figures, multiple referrals were made regarding the same incident.
“A high number of incidents reported occurred in one primary school, and the majority of these involved three children.
“Staff from the education team are actively working on the factors leading to incidents to mitigate them.”