In a recent article it was revealed by Western Mail, that vandalism in schools across Wales has cost at least £1.2m to fix over the past three school years.

According to figures released under the Freedom of Information Act, 2,421 incidents were reported between school years 2008/09 and 2010/11, costing councils and schools £1,231,528.06 to deal with.

However, the true number of incidents and resulting cost is likely to be much higher as 836 schools, just under half of the total failed to respond to a request for information.

The £400,000-a-year cost, among other things, could have funded an extra 16 teachers or restored most of the £500,000 cut from school music lessons this year.

David Evans, NUT Wales Secretary, said: “Every year vandalism takes vital financial resources out of the school system. Money that is currently being spent on dealing with vandalism would otherwise be made available for equipment, teachers and reducing class sizes.”

There were calls for better security at schools and moves to deter offenders.

Rex Phillips, Wales organiser of teaching union NASUWT, said: “Clearly it must be soul destroying for teachers if they return to premises and find acts of vandalism have been perpetrated.

“The only thing we can do to stop it is making schools secure and ensure that those responsible are caught and that they’re dealt with appropriately, that’s the only way we can effectively deal with vandalism in schools.

“I know that one of the things is a level of access to schools and in particular secondary schools, is posing a problem so it’s making sure perimeter fencing is secure.

“If there are historic patterns, it requires better security through the periods of school holidays.”

Is vandalism an issue in your school? If so, what types of problems have you experienced?