Over 100,000 students throughout Scotland have been absent from school with attendance down to 84.5%, according to official figures from the Scottish government
Data collected from local authorities in the country shows that more than 15.5% of students were absent from school last Friday.
However, only 22,821 of the absences were listed as “COVID-19 related”.
The Scottish government have said that it was common for other viral infections to circulate following a “prolonged break” away from the classroom.
The Prime Minister has abandoned advice that pupils should not be wearing face coverings in secondary schools in England. Boris Johnson has performed his latest U-turn in the face of growing pressure from teaching unions, headteachers and medical experts.
The largest teaching union in Scotland, the EIS, has told BBC Scotland that it believed that many parents across the nation were “erring on the side of caution” and keeping their children who had shown cold symptoms away from school.
Students across Scotland had began to return to school on the 11th of August after being away since March.
Provisional figures from the 28th of August show that 84.5% of pupils in Scottish schools were present, down from a confirmed 95.8% attendance on the 17th of August.
Over the last decade, attendance levels over the whole school year in the nation have been between 93% and 94%.
Around 3% of students had been absent last Friday for a COVID-related reason, while 12.3% were absent for non-COVID reasons, including some students having been excluded.
A COVID-related absence classification would need to include a “positive test, showing symptoms, self-isolation, quarantining, and parents not sending their child to school against public health guidance”.
The Scottish government has reported on Tuesday that almost 40,000 students had been tested for COVID-19 since the school term had started, with 117 positive results.
Speaking on Monday John Swinney, the UK’s Education Secretary, said that it was common for “colds and similar viral infections to circulate” when students have returned from a prolonged period of time away from school.
“In many cases children will be well enough to attend school and continue their learning with little or no interruption to their education,”
“In other cases, for instance where they have quite a heavy cold with a runny nose, they may need to take a day or two off to recover.”
He said any pupil with Covid-19 symptoms were required to self-isolate and seek a test.
But he added: “In order to ensure that your child does not miss out on their education it is important to be clear on how Covid-19 symptoms differ from those of other infections that we normally see circulating at this time of year.”
A decision on whether to delay the GCSE and A-level exams for next year in England will be made “very soon”, according to schools minister Nick Gibb.
Larry Flanagan, general secretary of the EIS, said the union had received reports of “higher than normal illness absences” in schools across Scotland, with indications that cold viruses were circulating among pupils.
He said significant numbers of pupils and staff were being affected in some areas.
“This may be the result of pupils and staff being isolated from others for a prolonged period, with the result that the virus is spreading more quickly now than schools have re-opened,” he added.
“It is also likely to be the case that many parents will be erring on the side of caution in keeping their children off with cold symptoms at the present time.”
