Almost 95 per cent of pupils attended school in Scotland on Monday, the day before the deadline for a full return of schools.
The figure was revealed by education secretary and deputy first minister John Swinney this afternoon, as he addressed safety concerns about the reopening of schools.
The annual school attendance rate for 2018-19, according to Scottish government figures, was 93 per cent.
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In response to a question at today’s Scottish government coronavirus briefing, Mr Swinney said: “The attendance at school is really very, very high and very good, and I thank and commend parents for their commitment to return their children to education.
“On Monday, the attendance was reported at 94.8 per cent of pupils. The proportion of absences that were authorised and unauthorised, but not related to Covid, was 4.6 per cent, and the number of absences for Covid-related reasons was 0.7 per cent.
“So, we can see from that data that, in an overwhelming fashion across the country, parents have returned their children to school, and I commend them for doing that.”
Mr Swinney, who earlier in the briefing said that there was no need to make face coverings mandatory in schools, added: “Obviously, we’ve set out in the guidance the measures that are in place to make our schools safe, and I know that schools are taking that approach very, very seriously.
“And it is different to how school was before, so there is a whole series of measures that have been taken - both in terms of hygiene, in terms of the school routine, in relation to issues around lunch breaks and other breaks - where the arrangements are different, to improve safety and security.
“So what I’d say to parents is that there is very strong guidance in place, it’s been actively implemented by schools, and parents should be confident in those arrangements.
“And where there are individual examples of very, very small clusters [of Covid-19], the appropriate action will be taken to protect the safety of staff and pupils in every case.”
At today’s briefing, first minister Nicola Sturgeon gave an update on pupils who had tested positive for Covid-19 in both secondary and primary schools, with “two new individual cases involving people at schools in Johnstone and Dundee”.
However, when asked about concerns over safety measures in primary schools, she stressed that “we are not seeing outbreaks in primary schools, we are seeing individual cases, or primary school-aged children, but the evidence is that they are getting the virus in the community”.
