Council chiefs have hit out at Scottish Government plans to impose a minimum number of “learning hours” for school pupils.
Umbrella group COSLA say they have “serious concerns” about proposals they fear could lead to education cuts.
The Scottish Government clashed with councils earlier this year over local authority plans to cut school learning times to plug a funding black hole.
Ministers responded with plans to set the number of learning hours at 950 hours for primary schools and 1045 for secondaries per school year.
The Government consultation says primaries generally provide around 25 learning hours a week and 27.5 for secondaries.
A leaked COSLA paper has rejected the response: “We have serious concerns about the approach taken by the Scottish Government.”
Council chiefs claimed the Government had initially wanted to ‘freeze’ the length of the school week as it stands, but is now proposing a standardised system across the country.
They claim that “roughly” a third of councils do not deliver 27.5 hours a week in secondaries.
The COSLA paper stated: “The introduction of regulations to prescribe minimum learning hours would represent a further infringement on the autonomy and democratic mandate of local authorities.
“It is not clear that the creation of a national, standardised school week would be able to be implemented across Scotland.”
COSLA also claimed the “ambiguous” plan would reduce the flexibility of councils and result in extra costs.
The paper added: “It may see disproportionate cuts fall upon the other vital services in order to maintain the new duties.
“This may have the net effect of adding pressure to the teaching and school workforce, as these vital support services are reduced to service this Scottish Government commitment.”
EIS General Secretary Andrea Bradley said: "The EIS has consistently resisted any plans by local authorities to reduce the length of the pupil week to cut costs. We cannot have a postcode lottery of education provision, and all young people should have the right to the same amount of learning time in a school year.
"The Scottish Government and local authorities must work together to properly support and fund education in our schools, so that all young people have an equal opportunity to learn, thrive and achieve at school.”
Lib Dem MSP Willie Rennie said: "No one wants to see kids get less learning time but the reality is that this is happening because the budget cuts are leaving local authorities between a rock and a hard place.
"If the Scottish Government don't want to see reductions in learning time, they need to make sure there is enough money in local authority budgets, not play to the cameras with threats of strong-arm tactics."
Labour MSP Mark Griffin said “Councils are at breaking point after years of cuts under the SNP and the Greens, and schools are paying the price.
“This policy must be backed up by fair funding for Councils so we can deliver the education system we need without other frontline services paying the price.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: "It is essential that children and young people across Scotland do not have their learning hours reduced, and that any changes to the school week are based on educational benefit to pupils. A consultation is underway to introduce a new legal minimum number of school learning hours to give parents greater certainty about what their children can expect to receive.
"Any measures that materially reduce the number of hours children spend learning in school could impact pupil attainment and wellbeing and undermine our collective efforts to close the poverty-related attainment gap. This is an opportunity for parents, children and young people and everyone else with an interest to make their views known about the potential impact of this policy.”
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