THE national shortage of teachers is being reflected locally with 87 teaching vacancies in the county.

On Tuesday the Chief Inspector of Schools in England said that teacher shortages are at their worst level for decades.

As schools prepare for the start of a new academic year, Mike Tomlinson said the shortages were at their most widespread since he began teaching in 1965.

The Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED) chief said 40 per cent of teachers were leaving the profession before completing three years in the classroom because their salaries offered them little hope of getting on the property ladder.

The trend seems to be the same in the county with Hampshire County Council saying that August figures show that there are 64 teaching vacancies in primary schools and 23 vacancies in secondary schools throughout Hampshire, excluding Portsmouth and Southampton.

Council spokesman Damon Embling said that the situation in Hampshire did not appear to be as severe as in some other parts of the country but a number of measures are being carried out to increase recruitment.

He said: "The figures of teaching vacancies could change in the new term because it is up to schools to recruit teachers and they let us know the figures.

"What we have been facing is the same as other education authorities but we have been tackling it in many ways.

"For example our county education officer, Andrew Seber, sent a letter to parents asking them if there would be anyone interesting in a teaching career and that had some really good results."

Mr Embling said that as well as publicising vacancies the county council has also been working to tackle the problems of high housing prices.

"A lot has been said about affordable housing and we have been working with the MoD and housing associations to try and find affordable housing for teaching staff" he said.

In March the government announced it was offering bursaries of £150 a week for people taking courses to return to the teaching profession.

It also pledged to pay up to £150 a week to help with child care costs while people were on the course.

It is offering bonuses of £4,000 to people coming back to teach shortage subjects like maths, sciences, languages and English.

People returning to non-shortage subjects qualify for a bonus of £2,000.

The government also recently confirmed details of a scheme to help teachers and other key sector workers to buy cheaper homes in the south east.