Scottish schools will be the last thing to be closed if the spread of the Omicron variant leads to tougher restrictions, a senior SNP minister has revealed.
John Swinney reiterated a point made by Sturgeon when stating that the government would do everything in their power to keep kids in the classroom in the coming weeks.
On Saturday the deputy first minister had said that Omicron strain of Covid was doubling every two to three days and that it was “galloping” through Scotland.
Swinney made the comment after a teaching union boss suggested that schools be closed early in the build up to Christmas in order to help limit the spread of the new variant.
School children across Scotland have had their learning severely disrupted over the last two years due to repeated lockdowns and an early closure would surely add to this predicament.
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."
Teaching union boss Larry Flanagan claimed an early schools closure could help "fend off" the worst of an Omicron wave before the festive season, the Daily Record reports.
The EIS general secretary 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."
