THE reopening of Scotland’s schools after the Christmas holidays should be delayed because of the risks posed by Covid-19’s omicron variant, a teaching union said today.

Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association general secretary Seamus Searson said that rising cases were already leading to staffing issues and that the problem was expected to grow worse in the new year.

Larry Flanagan, general secretary of the EIS teaching union, meanwhile said that the government should be prepared to return schools to remote learning if necessary.

But the Scottish government said that it was not considering national school closures.

Both general secretaries spoke to the Scotland on Sunday newspaper to urge care over the spread of coronavirus in schools.

Mr Searson said: “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.”

Delaying the start of the new term would give teachers more time to prepare for mitigation measures, he said.

Writing on Twitter, he added: “Decisions need to be made now, not at the last minute. Give teachers a break and the time to prepare for a different challenge in the New Year.”

Mr Flanagan said that further measures to curb coronavirus were needed when schools returned.

“There is a clear need for strong mitigations once schools reopen after the break, with enhanced cleaning regimes, improvements in ventilation and the continuation of other measures such as use of face coverings and appropriate physical distancing measures,” he said.

“The Scottish government must be led by the science and act in the best interests of protecting public health.

“If that necessitates schools moving to remote learning for a period, then that is a step that the government must not be afraid to take.”

A Scottish government spokesman said that keeping schools open was a top priority. He said that restrictions were being reviewed on a daily basis but that national school closures would only be implemented as an absolute last resort.