New teachers across Scotland say they are being deliberately denied the opportunity of a permanent post by local authorities because they have fewer employment rights.

Teachers' leaders say hundreds of newly-qualified staff are being targeted by councils seeking to restrict the number of full-time employees on the payroll as the current spending squeeze tightens.

The Herald has already been contacted by newly-qualified teachers from local authority areas including Glasgow, Renfrewshire and South Lanarkshire who claim their contracts have not been renewed as they approach one year of continuous service.

The timing is crucial because working for a full year gives teachers the right to take a local authority to an employment tribunal, or to receive a redundancy settlement.

In addition, under agreements between councils and teaching unions, staff who have been employed for more than one year acquire the right to seek a permanent contract of employment.

The Educational Institute of Scotland, the country's largest teaching union, said the practice had a severe impact on the career progression of newly-qualified staff - many of whom end up with short-term supply work.

Drew Morrice, assistant secretary of the EIS, said: "A number of these cases are being picked up across Scotland and it seems to us that newly-qualified teachers are the targets of cost-cutting because the chances of local authorities facing a legal challenge are much reduced.

"This is very unsatisfactory for the new teachers involved, who are being cut adrift as they start their careers, but it also has serious implications for the delivery of national policies, such as reductions in class sizes and the new school curriculum."

Mr Morrice blamed an agreement earlier this year between the Scottish Government and local authority representative group Cosla for the situation.

As The Herald revealed in June, the agreement paved the way for the dropping of an SNP manifesto commitment from 2007 to maintain teacher numbers at 53,000 in the face of falling school rolls as a vehicle to cut class sizes.

Mr Morrice now believes it is time for the Scottish Government to introduce statutory minimum staffing levels for schools to protect the quality of education.

However, local authorities have disputed the claims, saying falling rolls, the current financial climate, school closures and mergers have all combined to make it difficult for them to employ new teachers.

Another problem is that fewer teachers than expected are retiring, which means there are fewer permanent posts available to newly-qualified staff.

Isabel Hutton, education spokeswoman for Cosla, said