NICOLA Sturgeon has said she will “move heaven and earth” to get schools back to normal as soon as is possible.

But she moved to dampen any expectation that Scotland’s pupils would be back in the classroom full time from this August, telling MSPs, that she would not “act recklessly and put the lives of children, teachers and the wider community at risk”.

Pupils are due to return to a “blended” model from August 11 with a mixture of home-schooling and some classroom-based learning.

The amount of time spent in school will depend on a number of factors, but for some kids it could mean as little as one day a week.

Anti-poverty charities have expressed concerns about the impact of part-time learning for children from deprived backgrounds.

While a number of parents have reacted angrily to the uncertainty, unsure if they’ll be able to return to work full-time.

On Tuesday night, public health expert Devi Sridhar tweeted that her “personal view” is that if cases of coronavirus are low enough, schools should “reopen as normally as possible” when they return on August 11.

The Edinburgh University professor, who is part of the Scottish Government’s Covid-19 expert scientific advisory group, stated: “If Covid-19 numbers can be brought low enough in Scotland by August 11 (under 20 confirmed cases) and with appropriate ‘test and protect’ policies, my personal view is that schools should re-open as normally as possible (kids back full-time and able to play/interact together).”

Sturgeon responded by tweeting: “Right now (like other UK nations), we must plan for a school model based on physical distancing.

“But as @devisridhar says, *if* we can suppress virus sufficiently and have other measures in place, nearer normality may be possible. It’s why we must stick with plan to suppress.”

The First Minister continued: “We’ll be guided by evidence and won’t compromise safety (we still don’t know everything about this virus). And we’ll work with parents, young people and teachers to build confidence. All countries grappling with these tough issues – @scotgov determined to do right for children.”

The SNP leader was asked about the scientist’s comments during Wednesday’s First Minister’s Questions.

Scottish Tory leader Jackson Carlaw said Professor Sridhar’s point was that a “community-based testing regime that helps to see exactly where the disease is spreading would clearly give teachers and parents reassurance that schools are safe to return to normal”.

He added: “The question is obvious, and it brings us back to the testing issue that we have raised for several months. Will the First Minister commit today to ramping up our testing capacity and – this is important – our usage of that capacity during the summer so that, by August, opening schools full time, if it is safe to do so, is a realistic and achievable option?”

Sturgeon told MSPs: “I will move heaven and earth with my ministerial colleagues to get this country back to normal in every aspect of our lives as quickly as possible.

“Nothing is more important in all of that than getting our children’s education back to normal and, of course, ensuring that we put in place plans to allow children to catch up on missed education.

“I take that responsibility very seriously. I also take seriously my responsibility to ensure that we get through the crisis as safely as possible.”

She said her Government was currently operating a “contingency plan” to bring schools back with physical distancing in place. That means having to “maximise the time that children can spend in schools”.

If councils need additional resources to help maximise the class time, the First Minister promised the Government would step in.

The First Minister said the Government was also taking advice on the “alternative measures that we might be able to put in place to allow schools to operate, safely, as normal.”

That, she added, “involves continuing to suppress the virus and having in place a robust and reliable test and protect system, and that is exactly what we have put in place”.

“I sincerely say to members across the chamber that anybody in the chamber who suggests that these issues are simple is perhaps showing that they are not interested in sufficiently understanding them. We must proceed cautiously and carefully.”