The Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills, commonly referred to as the Education Secretary, is a position in the
Scottish Government Cabinet responsible for all levels of
education in Scotland. The Cabinet Secretary is supported by the
Minister for Further Education, Higher Education and Science and the
Minister for Children and Young People
The Minister for Children and Young People is a junior ministerial post in the Scottish Government. As a result, the Minister does not attend the Scottish Cabinet. The post was created in May 2007 after the appointment of the Scottish Nationa ...
which are both junior ministerial posts.
The current Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills is
Shirley-Anne Somerville, who assumed office on 20 May 2021.
History
The position was created in 1999 as the Minister for Children and Education; it was renamed as the Minister for Education, Europe and External Affairs in 2000 and given more responsibilities; those were taken away from the post in 2001 and it was renamed again as the Minister for Education and Young People. The current position of Cabinet Secretary was created following the
2007 election.
Overview
Responsibilities
The responsibilities of the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills include:
* school standards, quality and improvement
* school infrastructure & staffing
* educational attainment, qualifications and closing the attainment gap
* National Improvement Framework
* teaching profession
* behaviour and measures to combat bullying
* modern languages and the Gaelic and Scots languages
* Named Person
*
Skills Development Scotland
* non-advanced vocational skills
* historical abuse enquiry
Public bodies
The following public bodies report to the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills:
*
Bòrd na Gàidhlig
*
Care Inspectorate
* Children's Hearings Scotland
*
Education Scotland
Education Scotland ( gd, Foghlam Alba) is an executive agency of the Scottish Government, tasked with improving the quality of the country's education system.
Origins
The creation of the Agency was announced by Scottish Government Education a ...
*
Scottish Children's Reporter Administration
*
Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Council
The Scottish Funding Council (Scottish Gaelic: '; SFC), referred to more formally as the Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Council, is the non-departmental public body charged with funding Scotland's further and higher education i ...
*
Scottish Qualifications Authority
The Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA; Gaelic: ''Ùghdarras Theisteanas na h-Alba'') is the executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government responsible for accrediting educational awards. It is partly funded by the Ed ...
*
Scottish Social Services Council
The Scottish Social Services Council is responsible for raising standards in the country's social service workforce.
The Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) was established in October 2001 by thRegulation of Care (Scotland) Actand is resp ...
*
Student Awards Agency for Scotland
List of Office holders
References
Education in Scotland
Education
Higher education in Scotland
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