A bursary scheme designed to boost the number of maths and science teachers in Scotland’s schools is being extended, after helping more than 100 career-changers into the classroom.

The Scottish Government created the £20,000 Stem (science, technology, engineering and maths) bursary to encourage people working in business and industry in these areas to retrain and become teachers.

It was aimed at tackling the shortage of Stem teachers in secondary schools, and 107 bursaries worth a total of more than £20 million were handed out in its first year.

Education Secretary John Swinney has now announced the initiative is being extended, with bursaries being made available for people to start teacher training courses next August.

Mr Swinney said: “We want to help people who have invaluable experience of working in industry to use their knowledge and life skills to inspire the next generation.

“More than 100 new Stem teachers will soon be in classrooms as a result of this scheme and I am confident the bursary will attract even more talented people to apply next year.

Education Secretary John Swinney, left, has extended the scheme (Andrew Milligan/PA)

“Developing Scotland’s Stem talent and capability is key to future economic growth, so it is important we have specialist teachers who can bring their enthusiasm into classrooms.

“This bursary is just one of the actions under way to make a career in teaching more accessible to more people.”

Paul Gibson, 56, from Bowden near Melrose, used the bursary scheme to leave a successful career in the engineering sector to study for a postgraduate diploma in technical education at the University of the Highlands and Islands.

He said: “One of the reasons I decided to retrain was that I wanted to travel less and be able to do more with my family and in my local community. I really enjoyed running training for young people in my last job so teaching was a natural choice.

“Knowing the bursary was available took some of the stress out of the decision to leave my job and it has really helped the transition. I am already getting huge satisfaction from working in the classroom and I’m looking forward to being able to use my experience in industry to prepare young people for the workplace.

“It’s important to be able to explain how the skills we teach are relevant to real jobs and having a career under your belt gives your words extra credibility.”

Ken Edwards of the training body Skills Development Scotland said: “It’s welcome that in the first year of this new programme the bursary has helped so many career-changers make the move from their existing employment to train as teachers in five Stem subjects where there is demand in schools across Scotland.

“This will contribute to getting the right skills balance in the teaching workforce and in supporting young people to be engaged and enthused in their Stem learning.”