FUNDS to close the attainment gap between rich and poor are exacerbating the teacher recruitment crisis in rural schools, councils have warned.

A group of local authorities representing areas across the north of Scotland said job opportunities were being created in areas of urban deprivation to the detriment of more remote parts of the country.

Under plans to improve educational opportunities for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds the Scottish Government has set up the £750m Attainment Scotland Fund.

However, the nine “challenge” authorities first identified for funding are Glasgow, Dundee, Inverclyde, West Dunbartonshire, North Ayrshire, Clackmannanshire, North Lanarkshire, East Ayrshire and Renfrewshire.

Maria Walker, director of education in Aberdeenshire, said: “Because there is more money in the system more teachers can be employed and peripheral areas suffer.”

In a written submission to the Scottish Government the so-called Northern Alliance of seven councils also called for more control over teacher training to plug gaps.

The alliance, which is made up of Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Highland, Moray, Orkney, Shetland and the Western Islands, wants more varied routes into the profession.

They also want trainees to carry out more practical experience in local schools so they become rooted in areas of shortage.

Its submission said: “In the North and North East it is clear teacher shortages are holding back education development and the pipeline in teacher education is not flexible enough.

“We welcome recent national announcements regarding further expansion and flexibility with regard to teacher training, but we ask for this to go further to enable local authorities to train and grow their own teachers, especially in areas of greatest need.”

Meanwhile, Laurence Findlay, director of education with Moray Council told the Times Educational Supplement Scotland he had written to parents asking anyone they knew with a teaching qualification to make contact.

The concerns came amidst crisis in teacher recruitment across Scotland with some 730 unfilled vacancies across 27 of Scotland’s 32 council areas last summer.

There have been particular concerns over shortages of specialist teachers in STEM subjects with Scottish Government targets for training places not being filled.

Last week, the Scottish Government launched an advertising campaign to target graduates from university science, technology, engineering and maths courses.

A government spokeswoman said: “Local authorities are already heavily involved in the workforce planning process.”

Professional body the General Teaching Council for Scotland is also seeking to attract additional staff to the profession.

Trainee teachers in Australia, Canada and Ireland will be invited to apply for positions in Scotland while homegrown talent that has emigrated to lucrative tax-free jobs in Gulf States such as Dubai and Saudi Arabia will be enticed home when their contracts expire.