One of Scotland’s island authorities is calling on the Scottish government to take “a regional approach” to school reopening, given its low number of coronavirus cases and the “impossible” challenges it would face if it had to deliver blended learning.

James Stockan, the leader of Orkney Islands Council, is asking education secretary John Swinney to consider a different approach for the archipelago off the north coast of Scotland - with the aim of “a return to full in-school teaching as early as possible in areas like Orkney”.

Mr Stockan said that Orkney had neither the buses nor the teachers to implement two-metre social distancing in its schools. He said pupils would be in school “two days at best” and teachers would have “little or no time to prepare online resources for at-home learning”.

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He added the council’s situation was made more complicated by the fact that “many areas of Orkney have low or no digital connectivity” and pupils would, therefore, need “paper-based alternatives” for home learning.

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The latest Scottish government figures show the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Orkney to date stands at nine, with fewer than five people currently in hospital, and fewer than five people in intensive care.

Mr Stockan said: “I share the government’s ambition for pupils to return to the classroom full-time as quickly as it is safe to do so.

“We believe this could be achieved sooner in Orkney than in many other areas of Scotland because we have been fortunate in having relatively few cases of Covid-19.

“With effective test and protect measures in place, we all hope this will continue over the weeks and months ahead. In these circumstances, I am asking the government to adopt a regional approach to the reopening of schools. We want to see a return to full in-school teaching as early as possible in areas like Orkney.”

The government has asked councils to prepare for a blended approach to learning when schools reopen on 11 August, involving face-to-face teaching and at-home learning, with pupils, ideally, spending 50 per cent of the school week or even more in school.

Mr Stockan said: “We face major challenges in delivering this, while maintaining two-metre social distancing.

“It would require many more teachers and school buses than we have available to us. There is insufficient suitable space in other buildings to provide safe and effective schooling. With the staffing we have, we would be unable to provide both school-based education and childcare for the children of key workers.

“In addition, teachers would have little or no time to prepare online resources for at-home learning - especially as there would need to be paper-based alternatives, given that many areas of Orkney have low or no digital connectivity.

“Quite simply this is undeliverable and impossible for us to put into practice. With the resources available to us, we calculate that the majority of our children and young people would be at school for two days a week at best.

“This would have a massive impact on our local economy, with one or more parents having to remain at home for much of the week, and on the wellbeing of our young folk.

“The alternative would be to spend vast amounts of money on the extra resources required to meet the government’s aims - again with potentially devastating consequences for our community.”

Mr Stockan added: “I’ve asked to discuss the challenges we face with Mr Swinney - so we can jointly explore an acceptable way to move more quickly to remove current restrictions in Orkney - to help us deliver an earlier return to a near-normal education for our children and young people.

“I would stress, however, that the safety of all involved will always be the most important consideration for us as we seek to take this forward.”