Scots teachers are still waiting to learn if they will receive an improved pay offer following another round of talks between the government and unions.
Education secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said today that she hoped to table a fresh package "within the next few days" in a bid to halt a planned wave of strike action.
The Scottish Government and local government body Cosla met earlier today in an attempt to avoid further industrial action.
A pay offer of between five per cent and 6.85 per cent for the majority of teachers has been rejected, with unions demanding a 10 per cent increase.
Schools have been disrupted by teacher walk-outs frequently since November, with further strikes taking place on February 28 and March 1.
The EIS teaching union plans 20 further days of rolling strikes across all local authority areas from March 13 until April 21.
Somerville said: "We have been working very closely with Cosla as the employers, and we hope that a new fair and affordable offer can be made to teachers within the next few days.
"If we can get this offer on the table, I hope trades union colleagues will take it back to their members so this dispute can be resolved without further disruption to children and young people’s education.
"I would repeat my call to the unions to suspend industrial action while discussions are continuing.”
John Swinney, the interim finance secretary, had earlier said he Scottish Government was operating under "very difficult financial circumstances" and had already allocated an extra £570 million for council budgets in the 2023/24 budget.
He added: "I don’t for a moment understate the scale of financial difficulty that faces all public organisations today as a consequence of the raging inflation with which we are all wrestling."
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