Hundreds of new teachers could be funded by the millions of pounds that would be required to stage a second independence referendum, according to calculations by the Scottish Conservatives.
The 2014 poll cost £15.8million, about £2million more than was estimated before the vote.
The Tories claim a further £1.2million was spent by the Scottish Government on printing and distributing copies of the white paper, Scotland’s Future.
Combined, the party claims, this amount would have been enough to put 750 teachers through their probation, in turn helping to solve the shortage in the north-east.
The difficulties recruiting and retaining teachers in Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and Moray in recent years have been well documented.
In March, there were more than 100 unfilled posts in the Granite City.
And the same month, education chiefs in Aberdeenshire unveiled a £350,000 plan to lure new teachers to the region, despite some success in cutting vacancies this academic year.
Tory MSP Ross Thomson, who is standing for Westminster in Aberdeen South, said the issue of a second independence referendum was at the heart of the election campaign.
He added: “We want a Scottish Government that is focused on improving education, health and the economy – three areas in which Scotland has suffered during a decade of SNP rule.
“The cost of staging a repeat vote – which Nicola Sturgeon is determined to do – could pay for hundreds of new teachers across the country.
“This would directly benefit the north and north-east of Scotland.”
But Callum McCaig, the SNP candidate for Aberdeen South, said it was “really desperate stuff” from a man standing for a party that had just been fined for “trying to buy their way into power by over-spending” in 2015.
He added: “The truth is the more Tory MPs Westminster has, the heavier the price Scotland will pay.
“Now more than ever, it is vital to have strong SNP voices standing up to an unopposed Tory government.”
Meanwhile, Scottish Labour Leader Kezia Dugdale said the SNP’s focus on independence had led to a “lost generation of Scottish children”.
According to the party, there are 4,000 fewer teachers and 1,000 fewer school support staff since the SNP came to office in 2007.
The Conservatives’ figures are based on a teacher probation salary in 2016/17 of £22,416 as listed by the Educational Institute of Scotland.
