One third of teachers plan to leave within the next five years, a figure that suggests huge dissatisfaction within the profession.

If anything like that number succeed, it will lead to the biggest crisis in the state education sector's history.

Teachers have always claimed to be poorly paid but money is not the main issue now. It is discipline, or rather the lack of it, that is causing the problem.

Anyone who comes close to the classroom, or knows a teacher, will be aware of the acute problem caused by disruptive pupils.

Hardly any teachers want to go back to the days of the cane.

Now, teachers often feel they are unable to impose discipline on children and even when disruptive pupils are expelled, these decisions are often overturned on appeal.

Other problems faced by teachers, such as excessive bureaucracy and Government interference, can be easily overcome.

However, it will take determination and courage by the Government to tackle the problems of disruptive children by making sure they are disciplined firmly.

It must do so, or teachers will leave in their thousands and there is a real risk the education system will break down