Dozens of extra teachers have been recruited across the north and north-east to help schools cope with coronavirus disruption.
The Scottish Government made £80 million available to councils in the summer for the reopening of classrooms.
Teachers and support staff have been recruited to help children catch up from gaps in learning, cover potential absences and cope with extra costs associated with the pandemic.
Now it has been revealed the money has allowed 26 extra teachers in Aberdeen to be recruited as well as 40 in Aberdeenshire, 23 in Moray and 41 in the Highlands.
Sonya Warren, chairwoman of Moray Council’s children and young people’s committee, said: “Children all have different needs as a result of coronavirus.
“Some younger ones may have physical needs, some may have regressed in their reading or writing from being away from class and some may have emotional or behavioural needs.
“The idea is to target the staff towards where they are most needed to help pupils catch up and ensure nobody is disadvantaged by coronavirus.”
Nationally, 1,250 teachers have been recruited with the support as well as 155 further support staff.
Ron Constable, secretary of the Aberdeen City branch of the EIS teachers’ union, said: “We welcome anything that leads to extra teachers. We have long argued about the need to reduce class sizes, which would help with social distancing.
“As we head towards winter we traditionally see difficulties with illness like flu and this extra group of teachers could help alleviate the issues we normally see at this time of year.”
Education minister John Swinney said: “This additional staffing resource will bring much needed resilience to the education system.”
