NICOLA Sturgeon has warned councils she expects pupils to be taught at least half the time in a classroom when schools return in August. 

The First Minister said she had “concerns” about anything less than 50 per cent face-to-face teaching time when the new blended learning model begins in response to coronavirus.

She said the Scottish Government wanted class time “maximised” and was not planning for blended learning - a mix of class and home-schooling - to last the whole 2020/21 academic year.

She also said she would consider teaching on Saturdays and through the October holiday if required as part of schools returning to normal as soon as it was safe to do so. 

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The First Minister’s push for more class time came just a day after education secretary John Swinney said it was “unlikely” schools would be back to normal by summer 2021.

The Scottish Tories claimed Ms Sturgeon was “desperate” to wrestle back control of the subject from Mr Swinney, and accused the pair of them of sowing confusion.

The First Minister said the Scottish Government would now scrutinise council school plans and ask them to “reconsider and revise” any it rated as inadequate. 

She hinted more money would be found to help them cope with social distancing measures. 

Council body Cosla last week said councils needed £48m for building adaptations.

Ms Sturgeon’s comments are a rebuke to councils who have angered parents by already announcing plans for pupils to return for one day a week or for a third of the week.

Last Friday, Mr Swinney said he would like to see the face-to-face teaching “being applied at as close to 50 per cent as it possibly can be”.

However within hours, SNP-led Edinburgh City Council told parents only 33% of a school’s roll would be in school at a time, and schools would only open Monday to Thursday.

At the daily briefing, Ms Sturgeon was asked if the one day in three was good enough and whether she would consider a Scotland-wide minimum for face-to-face teaching in schools. 

Ms Sturgeon said: “I would say very clearly , No I don’t think that is good enough. 

“I said very clearly in my opening remarks we have to start from a point of seeking to maximise, absolutely maximise, the amount of time children will spend in a school environment having face-to-face learning with their teachers.

“While we have necessary safety constraints in place, that will, for a period mean that is not 100% of time being spent in school.

“But one of the things we will be looking at as we scrutinise the plans is whether there should be a minimum that we seek to have. That’s work we will consider in the days ahead.”

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She said teachers, pupils and parents had to be confident that schools would be safe, and the Government would ask its education experts on lessons from other countries.

She said: “I want to get as quickly as we can, and as quickly as is safe and feasible, back to a position where young people have normal schooling just as quickly as possible.”

She said the Government had a “duty” to help with resources to allow councils to develop “creative and innovative” responses to the pandemic.

She said: “We will do that in absolute good faith. The priority for all of us must be the highest quality education for our young people, and to do everything we may be required to do to ensure that any impact on children’s education does not adversely affect them in the longer term. I cannot stress enough how much that means to me personally and the Government.”

She said she wanted all pupils to be back full-time by the end of the 2020/21 academic year.

She said she hoped she didn’t need to resort to legislation to compel councils to offer a minimum standard of face-to-face learning, but it remained an option.

She said: “I think we can get there collectively. 

“I don’t want to set a ceiling at this stage on the percentage of time that children will be in schools starting from August 11, because I want that to be maximised. 

“I would certainly, I think, have concerns about anything that was under 50%, although different councils will have different circumstances.

“But we want to maximise that. The 11th of August has to be a starting point and we build on that as quickly and as safely as we’re able to do.” 

Scottish Tory education secretary Jamie Greene said: “We are now several months into this crisis and that’s more than enough time for the SNP to have come up with a nationwide plan to maximise in-class schooling.

“Instead, all we’re seeing is more confusion, mixed messaging, and a chronic lack of leadership.

 “Parents and teachers won’t know who to listen to – the First Minister or the education secretary – as their stories are increasingly different.

“Councils are being left in the dark and left in the lurch.

“This was a desperate attempt by Nicola Sturgeon to wrestle back control of this issue from John Swinney, who she clearly thinks has made a mess of things in recent days.

“As a result of this shambolic incompetence, right across Scotland children will miss out on huge swathes of education, and parents will simply be unable to return to work under current SNP plans.

“This is much than attainment, this is going to hamper Scotland’s economic recovery in the short, medium and long-term.”