Teachers going truant

12.00.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Fri 11th Jul 2008

A study by the General Teaching Council found that 40% of new teachers leave the profession within two years of qualifying.

The reasons given are the bad behaviour of pupils, demands of the job and lack of family time.

Former Devon County Council Vice Chair of Education & Lib Dem PPC for Exeter Graham Oakes described this as "a very worrying statistic".

"Our children deserve, and our economy needs them to have the best possible education and that is put at risk by newly qualified teachers leaving the profession."

"Schools benefit from the enthusiasm that new staff bring to the team and it is vital that the life blood of the profession stops haemorrhaging away."

"Our teachers deserve our respect and our support and I expect the government to do more than simply blame the parents."

Schools Secretary Ed Balls has blamed parents for the misbehaviour of some pupils