The two-metre rule will have to be "relaxed" if pupils are to return to the classroom full-time after the Easter holidays.
John Swinney said the plan to have secondary kids back on school grounds would be confirmed on April 6 following a meeting of the Education Recovery Group.
The Education Secretary confirmed social distancing will have to remain between adults and pupils within schools, however it will be dropped amongst kids.
Swinney told the Education and Skills Committee: "A return to face-to-face schooling in the secondary sector would require for pupils the removal of the two-metre physical distancing requirement in a classroom setting.
"That is the assumption in which a full-time return to school is based.
"There will in all likelihood be a requirement for there to remain the necessity for physical distancing between adults within schools, and between adults and pupils.
"To enable a full-time return to face-to-face schooling in the secondary sector that two-metre physical distancing requirement would have to be relaxed."
Earlier this month the First Minister announced that all kids in Scotland would head back to the classroom after the Easter holidays.
All primary school children went back to face-to-face teach on March 15.
At present a small number of children in S4-S6 who attend school for practical work are offered testing kits to test themselves.
The resumption of face-to-face learning is dependent on the state of the virus in Scotland.
