The Teachers International Consultancy (TIC) website has seen a steady rise in numbers of staff from Scotland appearing on it, culminating in a high of 105 in February.

It comes just a week after a survey showed job prospects for new teachers are rising in Scotland – but that only one-quarter of probationers are getting full-time permanent jobs.

Concerns were also raised over the "casualisation" of the profession, with those securing full-time temporary employment at 34% – up from 25% the previous year.

Andrew Wigford, managing director of TIC, told the Times Educational Supplement Scotland: "For many, it seems to be the chance to teach and to extend teaching experiences at a time when there are limited opportunities in Scotland.

"The similarity of the curriculum in many international schools, attractive facilities and children who are a dream to teach, in most cases, are other reasons."

Education Secretary Michael Russell said last year he was sorry thousands of unemployed teachers had been unable to get permanent posts. In order to free up more places for out-of-work teachers, numbers being trained on postgraduate courses were slashed, and extra money was given to councils to increase teacher jobs.

The recent crisis in recruitment was partly caused by the SNP's policy to recruit more teachers to bring down class sizes as school rolls fell. Councils faced with smaller numbers of pupils cut teacher numbers to save money.

At the same time, teachers who were due to retire stayed on as their financial future became more uncertain.