Male pupils accounted for 79% of the expulsions

Permanent exclusions increased by 54% to 271 in 2004/05, while temporary exclusions also rose by 8% to 41,703.

A quarter of exclusions resulted from verbal abuse, 30% from disobedience and 13% involved offensive behaviour.

The education minister said he welcomed councils taking tough action to remove troublemakers from classes.

A total of 84% of the exclusions involved youngsters at secondary school, while 12% were at primary school and 2% were at special school.

Although exclusion is sometimes necessary, we cannot let young people see it as the easy option Education Minister Peter Peacock

Comparisons with the overall school population revealed that pupils entitled to free school meals, pupils in local authority care and those with additional support needs had higher exclusion rates.

Of the 22,000 pupils excluded, 64% were expelled on one occasion and 20% were excluded twice.

Boys accounted for 79% of the total number of exclusions.

Education Minister Peter Peacock said: "I have repeatedly made it clear to headteachers that I would not be criticising them or looking over their shoulders if they exclude rowdy pupils to protect the interests of teachers and the vast majority of pupils.

'Abolished targets'

"We abolished targets to reduce exclusions, giving power to councils and headteachers and today's figures show that they are using their increased powers more."

However he added that when there was a pattern of repeat exclusions, councils must support schools to ensure bad behaviour was addressed and that pupils were able to catch up with work that they missed.

"Although exclusion is sometimes necessary, we cannot let young people see it as the easy option either," he said.

"Getting children back into learning, using a range of provision including other schools, needs to become a higher priority at local level."

Councillor Rev Ewan Aitken, Cosla's education spokesman, said he was disappointed by the increase but pointed out that the vast majority of pupils in Scotland were never excluded.

The statistics revealed that 22,000 pupils were excluded in 2004/05

"Less than 3% of pupils were excluded last year and over 99% were temporary exclusions, most for four days or less," he said.

"Many local authorities have successfully introduced 'inclusion' zones which provide support to individual pupils who are unable to sustain positive behaviour.

"They make a real difference to young people's social and emotional development and ensure that for those children with difficulties in their families or communities, school provides a safe and supportive refuge."

Conservative education spokesman James Douglas-Hamilton said: "The shocking state of indiscipline in our schools is now more obvious than ever.