SECONDARY schools are facing a "looming crisis" in the teaching of science, the Scottish Labour Party has warned.

Iain Gray, the party's education spokesman, will make the accusation at a debate on the issue in the Scottish Parliament.

Mr Gray, a former physics teacher, highlighted a recent report by the Learned Societies Group, which includes the Royal Society of Edinburgh, which showed spending per head on teaching science subjects was significantly less than in English schools.

And he also pointed to a report by the Institute of Physics which suggested that physics graduates who enter teaching were lower paid than their peers - and that there was looming shortage of physics teachers.

Mr Gray said: "The Scottish Government's own figures show a fall in numeracy levels at all levels, primary and secondary which means science teaching in Scottish schools is facing a perfect storm.

"Low investment, teacher shortages and falling numeracy levels are all adding to concerns about the impact of the new curriculum on pupil numbers choosing science.

"To make matters worse, much lower pass rates in the new National 4 examinations for maths and science than for other subjects are fuelling fears that this will discourage pupils from choosing to take these subjects in the first place."

Mr Gray called on the Scottish Government to invest in science education to resolve the issues.