SCHOOLS across Scotland are losing teachers in science, technology, engineering and maths subjects, according to new figures.

The Scottish Conservative Party said numbers teaching so-called STEM subjects had dropped by 10 per cent since 2007 when the SNP came to power.

The fall comes despite warnings from business leaders of a shortage of pupils leaving school with the required skills to meet Scotland's economic needs.

Liz Smith, young people spokeswoman for the Scottish Conservatives, called for immediate action to increase the number of STEM teachers.

She said: "We know that by 2030 there will be seven million jobs in the UK wholly dependent on these science-based skills and in the eyes of many economic commentators Scotland's importance in this sector could grow more strongly than the rest of the UK.

"It is plainly obvious that we must do everything we can to ensure we are able to provide a highly trained workforce which has these skills, but at present our ability to achieve this is being hampered.

"The needs of Scotland and our young people are changing fast in what is a fiercely global economy and they are changing because employers want a much more finely-tuned labour force which is both more flexible and more skilled when it comes to the diverse needs of the economy."

A Scottish Government spokesman said officials "fully recognised" the challenges recruiting student teachers in key subjects.

He added: "That's why teacher education institutions are now being set specific student intake targets for individual subjects and the teacher workforce planning working group is actively pursuing a number of work strands to meet this specific demand."

According to the latest statistics there were 5993 teachers in STEM subjects in 2008 which fell to 5474 in 2014.