Over 6,000 Scottish teachers and school support staff were absent on Tuesday because of Covid-19 - the highest level of staff absence recorded so far this year as a result of the pandemic.
In January, when staff and pupils returned after the Christmas break, there were fears that some school buildings would be unable to open, given the rapid spread of the Omicron variant over the holidays.
On 11 January staff absence hit 5,137 - the highest figure recorded so far this school year, until now.
Today, the latest figures on staff absence were published by the Scottish government and they show that on Tuesday of this week (15 March) 6,058 school staff were absent, up from 4,676 the previous week.
Now - because of the changes to the rules on self-isolation if you are a close contact - a large majority of staff absences are because teachers and support staff have confirmed or suspected Covid-19.
In total, 701 teachers were off on Tuesday because they were isolating, shielding or looking after someone, while 2,087 were absent with confirmed or suspected Covid.
When it came to school support staff, 531 were off on Tuesday because they were isolating, shielding or looking after someone, while 1,357 were off with confirmed or suspected Covid.
The number of pupils absent as a result of the pandemic, meanwhile, has been rising steadily since the February mid-term break.
In total 32,649 pupils were off school on Tuesday for a Covid-19 related reason, up from 27,792 the previous week.
Now, the most common reason for pupils being absent as a result of Covid is because they have “Covid-19 related sickness” - not because they are self-isolating.
The latest figures show that, on Tuesday, 17,146 pupils were off because of Covid-19 related sickness, while 14,350 were off because they were self-isolating. The remainder were off because their parents were choosing to keep them at home (842) or because their school was closed (311).
The attendance rate on Tuesday was 86.9 per cent, down from 87.8 per cent the previous Tuesday.
However, the attendance rate was lower for secondary than for primary - and lower still for pupils in the exam years: S4 to S6.
The overall attendance rate for secondary students on Tuesday was 84.4 per cent; for S4 pupils it was 83.1 per cent; for S5 pupils it was 84.2 per cent; and for S6 pupils it was 83.3 per cent
Two-thirds of secondary students - 67 per cent - have now missed at least some school this year because of the pandemic (from 19 August to 9 March). In January, when Tes Scotland last reported on these figures, 54.2 per cent of secondary students had been off “due to a Covid-related reason”.
Most of them have missed out on no more than 10 per cent of their schooling (61.7 per cent) but 5.1 per cent have been out of school for 10 to 20 per cent of the time, and 0.2 per cent have been out of school for 20 to 30 per cent of the time.
With the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) exams fast approaching, increasing levels of pupil and staff absence will fuel concerns that students taking qualifications this year are not getting a fair deal.
The Scottish government and the SQA have said it is their clear intention for the exams to go ahead. However, many argue that more needs to be done to compensate for the time pupils have spent out of class - or without their teachers in front of them.
Last week, the SQA revealed the support it was providing after invoking its contingency plan, which was triggered because of the continued disruption to learning caused by Covid.
However, the support has come in for criticism from teachers, students and the children’s commissioner, Bruce Adamson, who called for “significant extra support” to compensate for years of disruption.
