TEACHERS have called for a change in the law to ensure nursery school children are taught by qualified teachers.

Current Scottish Government guidelines suggest only that children in pre-school education should have access to a qualified teacher, without specifying what that means in terms of hours.

Figures published in December last year show that more than one-quarter of pupils in Scottish nurseries have no input from qualified teachers.

The annual general meeting of the Educational Institute of Scotland teaching union in Perth yesterday backed calls for a campaign to clarify the issue by forcing the Government to provide a legal definition of "access".