Recruiting from across the world will not solve a teachers' shortage in Bradford, warns a union leader.

On Saturday, the Telegraph & Argus revealed how Tony Rickwood, head teacher at Parkside School, Culling-worth, flew out to Australia to attract teachers for a number of vacancies in Bradford. And education consultant Alan Hall, who works for Education Bradford advising on staff recruitment and retention, said it was particularly hard at struggling schools.

The shortage in the district reflects a national problem, he said.

But today Stuart Herdson, Bradford branch secretary and junior vice president of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, said he feared staff coming from abroad was only a short-term measure. "The problem we have to look at is retention of staff. We need to look at what we can do to keep teachers in our schools for more than a year, to help create some stability," he said. "Staff from abroad can bring a lot of experience but many just come for the international experience for their own career.

"Bradford does have an image problem nationally and we need to look at attracting people from West Yorkshire who are more likely to have roots here and therefore are more likely to stay."

Mr Herdson said pupils' behaviour was also discouraging teachers from staying in the profession. "Some of our schools are very big since re-organisation. At Rhodesway there are 2,000 pupils, which is the size of a village, and teachers have to be able to deal with crowd control," he said. "It is a very hard job and teachers need to be managed in the right way to help them cope in these situations." He also said incentives to stay in the job would be helpful, such as rewards for long service.

"In some schools staff turnover is quick but the ones who stay become a part of the whole school community," said Mr Herdson, who taught for 31 years at Salt Grammar School, Baildon.

Bradford Council's assistant chief executive Mark Carriline said the schools' re-organisation scheme was a success and boosted the efforts to encourage teachers to come and work in Bradford, as well as retaining those already here. He said standards have continued to rise, while attendance rates improve and the number of permanent reductions has reduced.

And he said a lot was being done to improve choice for pupils and provide them with a wider range of learning opportunities. "Our links with the Learning and Skills Council and colleges are continuing to develop," he said. "Bradford is also at the forefront of the Confederations scheme which is linking secondary schools, colleges and work-based learning providers."

No other union representatives or head teachers were available.