TRAINING to be a teacher can be a daunting and intimidating experience as well as a rewarding and exciting one, which is why there are procedures in place to help trainees as much as possible.

Under the current system, when a probationer arrives at a school, they are supposed to be given time to observe classes and develop their own lessons. They are also given a mentor: a more experienced teacher who can guide them through the rough patches and discuss any concerns they might have about how they are doing in class.

But to what extent is the reality living up to that ideal? According to Ken Muir, the chief executive of the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS), not very well in some cases. Asked about the experience of trainees in Scottish schools, Mr Muir said he was aware of some schools in which probationers were teaching for much longer than they were supposed to. What it amounted to, he said, was trainee teachers being thrown in at the deep end to cover staff shortages.

It is difficult to tell how widespread this situation is, but the fact that cases are reaching a senior education official like Ken Muir is a serious cause for concern. Mr Muir says probationers feel as if they cannot say no when they are asked to take on additional burdens which means teachers can struggle to cope day to day. It could also have the fatal effect of putting a trainee off teaching altogether.

And the trainees are not the only ones who are likely to be affected - pupils can also suffer if their teachers are being pushed too hard. Young teachers are supposed to be given time to prepare for their lessons but if they are being used to deal with staff shortages, this part of their work is likely to suffer, with a knock-on effect on pupils.

To some extent, it is understandable that, in a difficult situation, some headteachers feel the need to use trainees in this way, as teacher shortages are a real and serious issue in some Scottish schools, particularly in subjects such as maths and physics.

Most teachers also train in the central belt, which means they also tend to take jobs there once they have qualified, leaving schools in rural areas struggling to fill vacancies. So serious has the problem become that last year seven councils called for a national taskforce to reverse the situation.

However, using trainees to fill these gaps is not the answer as it is only likely to make the situation worse for both teachers and pupils. The training system is designed so that the mentors can spend time outside their own timetables to help and guide student teachers and there is specific money in place to fund it. Being dumped straight into a class without proper training or support is also not what trainees have signed up.

The bigger problem, of course, is the shortage of teachers. It is not a problem faced by every school, and in some the trainees will get all the support and help they need, but the probationers must not be made to pay the price for the fact that Scotland does not have all the teachers it needs. The danger in a short-term fix such as piling the pressure on trainees is that, in the long term, we will only make the problem worse.