The reopening of Scottish schools after the Christmas holidays should be delayed because of the Omicron variant, a teaching union has said.
Seamus Searson, general secretary of the Scottish Secondary Teachers Association (SSTA), said rising cases were already leading to staffing issues and the problem is expected to grow worse in the new year.
Meanwhile, the head of the EIS teaching union said the Government should be prepared to return schools to remote learning if necessary.
However, the Scottish Government has said it is not considering national school closures.
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Both union leaders spoke to the Scotland on Sunday newspaper, urging care over the spread of coronavirus in schools.
Mr Searson told the newspaper: "If the numbers keep going up, and it looks like that is going to be the case for some time to come, then we are not going to be in a fit state to reopen schools as normal in January.
"We're already hearing of schools that are not fully staffed and parents are keeping their kids off to ensure they don't catch covid in the run-up to Christmas.
"The idea that we need to keep schools open at all costs just doesn't add up."
