TEACHERS ARE unable to identify more than 60% of the children in their classes who have a poor opinion of themselves because of failings in the system they were taught to use, say educational experts in a Dundee-based research project.

It means that the youngsters are missing out on the vital extra help they need to boost their confidence and their chances of success in the classroom.

The research carried out among nearly 350 Scottish schoolchildren aged 10-12 showed that, on average, their teachers picked out only one in three of the pupils who suffered from low self-esteem.

And the less confident the children were, the more likely they were to slip through the net.

The teachers taking part in the survey identified only 25% of the 20 children who performed worst of all in special tests they completed to demonstrate their level of self-esteem.

The results of the research, which took place in 13 different types of schools spread throughout north-east Scotland, are revealed in the latest edition of the official journal of the British-based educational charity the National Association for Pastoral Care in Education.

David Miller and Teresa Moran of the faculty of education and social work at Dundee University, who headed the project, are calling for a change in the methods used by educationalists to decide which children are grappling with a crisis of confidence.

They write, “When we reflect that two out of every three children who would benefit from help are not identified, the message becomes clear. Simply, we have to do better.”

The results are all the more worrying because the project only involved teachers, all of them women, who are described as “enthusiastic” about trying to improve their children’s self-esteem.