The Labour-instigated debate saw a fierce attack on Ms Hyslop, the day after she was accused of a u-turn on class sizes by announcing plans to legislate for a maximum primary one class size of 25.

After Labour opened the debate, Schools Minister Keith Brown made the opening speech for the Scottish Government.

It then emerged that Mr Brown, and not Ms Hyslop, would also be closing the debate for the Government.

Labour education spokeswoman Rhona Brankin told reporters: "With the SNP failing so badly on education you would think that the Education Secretary would want to stand up and be counted but instead she is missing.

"Scotland's teachers deserve better that a minister that won't explain why she is letting them down.

"Was she too scared to attend to answer her critics or did she get detention after clearly not doing her homework?."

Opening the debate, Ms Brankin accused the SNP of reneging on a manifesto commitment to maintain teacher numbers despite falling schools rolls.

Figures for 2008 showed a cut of 1,000 teachers across Scotland, with 24 out of 32 councils reducing teachers numbers, said Ms Brankin.

"The First Minister defended those figures by saying that pupil-teacher ratios had been maintained at 13.1," she said.

"But that was yet another shoddy attempt to move the goalposts to spare the blushes of himself and his hapless Education Secretary.

"Under the SNP, a majority of local authorities have either seen no change in pupil teacher ratios or they have got worse.

"But beyond those faceless statistics are real teachers with views and experiences we need to listen to."

She accused the SNP of "betraying" young people by taking £10 million from the budget for teachers next year.

And a pledge to cut class sizes had been "ripped up" by yesterday`s announcement, she said.

Ms Brankin went on: "Fiona Hyslop's solution to the issue of unemployed teachers is to slash spending on teacher training, but what she really needs to do is keep her promise on maintaining teacher numbers.

"If she hadn't cut teacher numbers by nearly a thousand, we maybe wouldn't have a situation where there are 543 applicants for a teaching post in Perth and Kinross."

 

For the Government, Mr Brown said latest figures showed 13.4 teachers per thousand were claiming the Jobseekers` Allowance - less than in England and "significantly lower" than in Northern Ireland and Wales.

"We have been providing record levels of funding for local government, and through our concordat-based partnership with local government have made substantial progress towards our ambitious class size reduction targets," he said.

The average primary class size was at a record low of 23.2, the pupil-teacher ratio of 13.1 was at a historic low, and the proportion of P1-P3 pupils in classes of 18 or fewer has risen to a record high of 13.25%.

And the proportion of P1-P3 pupils in classes over 25 had reached a record low of 23% in 2008, said the minister.

"This sort of track record doesn't come easily," he went on.

"It has been made possible by us making record levels of funding available to local authorities - £23 billion over the period 2008 to 2010."

He said the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities had given a "continuing commitment" to pursue concordat commitments.

Teacher employment was a matter for local authorities, said Mr Brown, who went on to attack Labour-controlled Glasgow.

"We need look no further than Glasgow for an example of an authority that is haemorrhaging teachers and where class sizes are increasing," he said.

The teacher census had indicated nearly 1,000 fewer teachers than in 2007, and the Government had taken immediate action by reducing by 500 the student teacher intake targets for this autumn.

He told MSPs: "This Government is committed to class size reduction and our target of P1-P3 class sizes of no more than 18, and we are taking steps to ensure that progress continues to be made in that direction by legislating to clear up the ambiguity let behind by the previous administration.

"We are also very concerned about the plight of the significant numbers of unemployed teachers.

"Again we have plans to address this."

And attacking the opposition, he said: "The Labour motion offers nothing positive.

"It offers no solution to the challenges education and unemployed teachers face. It complains but does not contribute.

"This Government offers solutions. We are serious about Scottish education."

 Tory education spokesman Murdo Fraser said Ms Hyslop had a "duty to start delivering on education".

He recalled that opposition parties had previously "ganged up on the hapless Education Secretary".

And he said debates on education had "become the parliamentary equivalent of small boys pulling the wings off flies".

But he added: "I have no sympathy for the SNP because when they were in opposition they were the ones who promised they would deliver class size reductions, and we know that is happening but at a glacial rate.

"On the latest figures they will deliver their promise on class sizes - but by 2095."

And he said that when Nationalists were in opposition Ms Hyslop had criticised the previous Executive for the difficulties newly qualified teachers faced finding work.

However the Conservative said: "Now the situation has actually got worse and she has nowhere to turn."

Mr Fraser said the lack of employment for newly qualified teachers was a "crisis", claiming this was a "huge waste of talent".

But he suggested some of the money spent on free school meals for youngsters could instead be spent on employing teachers.

He argued: "We reject the notion that scarce resources should be spent providing free school meals for well off parents.

"Even if such a policy were justifiable in times of plenty there can be no justification for it when we are facing spending cuts. What a waste of resources that is, which could be spent on employing more teachers."

The Tory also called for head teachers to be given more power over employing teachers in their schools.