It is a depressing litany of persistent disobedience, verbal abuse, vandalism, insolence, physical assault, drug-taking and fighting.

Then there are the cases of assault with a weapon, indecent exposure, slander and spitting. There are even examples of extortion, threats of sexual violence, stalking and fire-raising.

This is the shocking catalogue of offences that last year led to a rapid rise in exclusions from Scotland's primary and secondary schools.

New figures from the Scottish Government show the number of pupils removed from Scottish schools in 2006-07 rose by 4% from the previous year to 44,794. The figure equates to 22,800 individual pupils, some excluded on multiple occasions, or 3% of the total school population.

The majority of incidents were for general or persistent disobedience, verbal abuse of staff, which numbered 11,601, which together with incidents of insolence, were responsible for three-quarters of all exclusions.

However, significant numbers - 286 - were also removed for physical assault with a weapon and there were also 225 cases of fire-raising, 10 of extortion and 68 indecent exposures.

Although this year has seen a sharp rise, the numbers of exclusions have been growing steadily from a low point of 38,912 in 2002-03, when the former Labour-led Scottish Executive scrapped local authority targets on exclusions.

Gradual increases since then have been explained partly by exclusions reaching a more natural level after being kept artificially low.

However, this year's sharp increase has reignited a more fundamental debate about growing problems of indiscipline in Scotland's schools and how it can be dealt with.

Maureen Watt, the Schools Minister, said exclusions represented a "failure of the system" and called for schools to do more to prevent them.

"This government is extremely concerned about increasing exclusion rates and the further increase in violence as a reason for exclusion," she said.

"I firmly believe that where a child is excluded from school we have - collectively - failed that child. I want more schools to consider how they can best serve their pupils' needs.

"Exclusion must always be the last resort and, where a pupil is excluded, arrangements must be made to address the issues and ease reintegration."

However, David Eaglesham, general secretary of the Scottish Secondary Teachers Association, said the problem was more to do with society.

"I don't think the number of exclusions reflects a failure of the school system. It is simply a reflection of what is going on more widely in society," he said.

"From the list of exclusions it is clear that there are certain actions which are unacceptable and cannot be tolerated within the school gates. In those cases children have to be excluded.

"Rather than looking to keep more pupils in school we need to look at radical solutions that deal with the problems created by parents and families long before children get to school."

Kirsty Devaney, president of the Educational Institute of Scotland, agreed. "No-one wants to see pupils excluded from school, however, in some instances, it is necessary to maintain discipline and to allow a suitable learning and teaching environment for pupils and teachers," she said.

"While any increase in exclusions will always be a concern, it is a reflection of the recurring discipline problems which blight the daily lives of teachers and the majority of well-behaved pupils."

Judith Gillespie, policy development officer for the Scottish Parent Teacher Council, said schools should not be expected to resolve all the problems of their pupils, but warned that the implications of exclusion were serious.

"The problem is that pupils who are excluded permanently are more likely to be from deprived backgrounds and, once excluded, can go on to become involved in more serious crime," she said.

"It is too simplistic to argue that schools should just not exclude, but it is important for the system to do as much as possible to help and support pupils before we reach that stage."