Retrain soldiers as teachers call

A report by the centre-right Centre for Policy Studies called on the Government to take up the example of the Troops to Teachers programme in the United States where it had proved an "outstanding success".

It said that the T3 scheme - as it is known in the US - had provided worthwhile careers for ex-servicemen and women while bringing the benefits of their military training to schools which were violent and unsafe.

The proposal was strongly supported by the former chief of defence staff, Lord Guthrie of Craigiebank, who said in a forward to the report that it could offer an antidote to some of the problems of youth knife crime, drugs and violence.

"This will not, of course, solve all the problems of the inner city. But it will help," he said.

"It will provide youths with role models who understand discipline and self-restraint at the time in their lives when they need it most. And it will be a terrific boost for our Armed Services."

The T3 programme was originally set up in the aftermath of the 1991 Gulf War at a time when US forces were cutting back on numbers.

The report, written by Tom Burkhard, said that the ex-military personnel had proved to be "excellent teachers" who had been able to exert "a profound effect on discipline and learning" in the schools where they worked.

"This is not merely because ex-servicemen are sure of their own moral authority. They are not intimidated by adrenaline-fuelled adolescents: they have, unlike most teachers, been there before," it said.

The fact that ex-service personnel were seen to have succeeded in a "macho" profession helped to engender respect - particularly among boys.