The Scottish Government will do everything possible to keep schools open as the Omicron variant of covid spreads across the country.
Deputy First Minister John Swinney says maintaining education is a priority and classrooms will be the last things to close, if ministers are forced to take radical steps to control it.
He spoke after a teaching union chief Larry Flannigan warned they may have to close to "fend off" the worst of the new wave sweeping Scotland, the Daily Record reports.
Mr Swinney insists children have endured significant disruption to their schooling since the outbreak of the pandemic.
And he echoed First Minister Nicola Sturgeon's commitment to keep school gates open over the next few weeks.
Mr Swinney said: "We made clear we want to maintain education. That will be the last thing we close, frankly.
"We want to maintain schools as young people have suffered so much interruption to their education. So we want to avoid that."
EIS general secretary Mr Flannagn warned more schools may have to close or move to remote learning if they can't be staffed.
"The Scottish Government should consider an early Christmas closure if a firebreak is needed to fend off a new wave," he said yesterday.
Nicola Sturgeon said last week that she would "bust a gut" to keep schools open as normal.
Speaking at a media briefing on Friday, she said: "I can't stand here and say that no class will be disrupted and no school will have periods of disruption - what I'm talking about here is what we had before, which is blanket schools are closed.
"Nobody wants that. I will bust a gut and do whatever - even if people hate me for asking adults to do more than they want to do - to keep schools open in that general sense.
"If some classes are asked to self-isolate as a result of an outbreak, that would serve to ensure the rest of the school can stay open."
