The annual conference of Scotland's biggest teaching union, the EIS, was told that increasing economic migration, particularly from the new EU member countries, has created classes without a single child who speaks only English.

A majority of delegates at the conference in Perth on Saturday passed the motion for the union to negotiate an agreed national limit.

Many teachers say they are finding it increasingly difficult to balance teaching those with no English, while still educating the remainder within the curriculum, without sufficient specialist support.

The motion to limit the number of pupils without English in any one class was proposed by the union's Glasgow branch, where swathes of Eastern Europeans have enrolled in the last year

East Renfrewshire has seen high migration levels, with pupils who speak 40 different languages. The North-east and Aberdeen area has also been affected with large numbers of Polish children enrolling in schools. Their parents have travelled to work in the fishing and agricultural industries, and Edinburgh also has a growing Polish community.

Scottish Executive figures, released in February, show there are more than 37,700 children of an ethnic origin other than British enrolled in Scottish schools.

Despite the influx, primary schools where dozens of languages are spoken often have to share just two or three specialist "English as an additional language" teachers.

Marjorie Bell, who proposed the motion, said:

"There are large numbers of children of migrant workers arriving over a short period of time. If a school like mine, which has years of experience teaching bilingual children, is struggling to cope, how are others with less experience coping?

"How many local authorities are facing up to the realities and providing sufficient and appropriate support?"

She added that although her school was coping at the moment, if numbers of non-English speaking children increase, other pupils could suffer, and parents were starting to show concern.

Mrs Bell said: "A disproportionate amount of time is spent dealing with these children and there are increasing murmurs of discontent from parents. There is a need in mainstream schools for a limit in the number of non-English speaking children in one class."

Seconding the motion, Carolyn Ritchie, from the Glasgow association, said her school had Polish, Iraqi, Libyan and Dutch children. Some aged nine had never attended a class before coming to Scotland.

And she criticised the former Scottish Executive for not acting before the new EU rules, which allowed more people to live and work here, came into force.

She said: "The Scottish Executive knew that many children with no English would be coming to Scotland - it was no surprise."

Another motion, also proposed by the Glasgow branch, was passed, calling on the Scottish Executive to provide significant extra funding for English as an additional language, and bilingual services, in every council in Scotland where it is needed.

The conference heard the example of one bright pupil whose lack of English meant his potential was being held back.

Although he was reading Chekhov in his own language, in English he was limited to reading Harry Potter.

Lesley Atkins, of the Glasgow association proposing the motion, said: "We must ensure these pupils are not excluded from the curriculum. It is their fundamental right to receive an education.

"Without support from the Scottish Executive to support bilingual pupils, the structures of institutional racism will prevail."

Larry Flanagan, incoming convener of the EIS education committee, said there are 137 first languages spoken by more than 28,000 pupils in Scotland, and called for them to be given the same support as Gaelic speakers.

He told delegates there are twice as many Arabic speakers, three times as many Chinese speakers, six times as many Urdu speakers, and eight times as many Punjabi speakers as people who speak Gaelic in Scotland. He added: "They also need investment just as the Gaelic speakers do. This is a problem where only lip-service is being paid by politicians."

Graham Dane, of St Augustine's High School in Edinburgh, said: "We are witnessing a major democratic change and they [children of economic migrants] are not receiving a satisfactory education. We are quite happy to take their taxes and they deserve something in return."

A Scottish government spokesman said: "We want to deliver more opportunities for Scots from all backgrounds to succeed. We are planning to work with education professionals to stretch every child to achieve their full potential, providing them with the individual attention and support they need to flourish."

• The amount of official material being translated by bodies such as councils should be cut to encourage immigrants to learn English, Ruth Kelly has said.

The UK communities secretary said that there were cases - such as in a casualty ward - where translation was necessary.

But she said learning and using the English language was "key" to helping migrants to integrate.

• IN MARJORIE Bell's primary-four class in Annette Street Primary School in Glasgow's Govanhill, there are no white, "monolingual" pupils who speak only English.

The school has a long tradition of serving a predominantly Asian community and is, therefore, well experienced in teaching bilingual children.

In the school's official inspection report in December, it was noted that 25 per cent of the roll had joined from Eastern Europe in the past year, and meeting the needs of non-English speaking pupils was noted as a key strength. But increasing economic migration to Scotland from a wide range of countries means the school is stretched to its limit.

Of Mrs Bell's 32 pupils, half joined the class without any English. There are six Malaysian pupils, ten Slovakians, and until last week, one Somali pupil, as well as bilingual Urdu and Punjabi speakers.

Many of the non-English speakers are now beginning to develop a good level of English, but Mrs Bell believes creating an "immersion unit", where they could focus on learning English first, would allow them to access the curriculum more quickly.

She said: "It is frustrating. The more time you have to spend with these children, the less time you have to spend with other children who also have needs. You go home at the end of the day and feel you haven't done right by any of them."

The school has two full-time English language assistants and a principal teacher in English as an additional language, who comes to the school three days a week, but Mrs Bell feels it is not enough. She said: "The new Scottish Executive should be looking at this on a national basis urgently."