Nicola Sturgeon has confirmed high schools across Scotland will reopen full-time to virtually all pupils when the Easter holidays finish.
The First Minister announced some pupils could be back in class five days a week as soon as next Monday, depending on which council area they live in.
Primary schools reopened full-time last month and senior high school pupils were also able to return to in-person teaching, but those in S1-S3 were forced to wait.
Younger pupils were offered some class time in late March before the Easter holidays but it often meant as little as three hours per week.
Speaking at her now weekly covid briefing in Edinburgh, the SNP leader said she was pleased to confirm a return for all pupils - with the exception of pupils on the shielding list, who will stay home until April 26.
"This is, I know, a huge relief to many children and young people – and of course to many parents and carers," she said today.
"I know, however, that it will also be a source of concern for some people. And so I want to give reassurance that safety will be paramount.
"The return to school will involve the removal, where necessary, of strict two metre physical distancing between pupils in secondary schools - however we are asking schools to consider how they can strengthen other mitigations.
"For example, we have committed almost £400m of education recovery funding - and I know that many councils have been using some of this funding to monitor and improve ventilation in schools."
She added: "In addition, twice-weekly lateral flow testing is available for all school staff in primary, secondary and special schools – and for secondary school pupils. I would encourage as many staff and pupils as possible to use the tests.
"Through these measures and others, the Scottish Government, schools and local authorities are trying to ensure that the return is as safe as possible.
"We will also, of course, continue to study and assess the data, in order to quickly limit any outbreaks that do arise, and to learn from them."
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar welcomed reopening announcement.
He said: “I know that when I look at my own children’s eyes I see the impact of this lockdown on them, particularly their mental health and wellbeing.
“We want children back to school but we want to make sure we do it in as safe a way as possible.
“We also have to think about the workforce in our classrooms and that is why again I would say, now we have a ramping up of the vaccine supply, we should be looking at rolling out those vaccine for teachers to give them a sense of confidence, and to pupils and parents as well.”
