The Scottish Government Education Directorates were a group of the

civil service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

directorates in the Scottish Government. The Directorates were titled Children, Young People and Social Care; Schools; and Lifelong Learning. They were responsible for

education in Scotland Education in Scotland is overseen by the Scottish Government and its executive agency Education Scotland. Education in Scotland has a history of universal provision of public education, and the Scottish education system is distinctly differe ...

;

social work Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social work ...

care for children and young people and

lifelong learning Lifelong learning is the "ongoing, voluntary, and self-motivated"Department of Education and Science (2000).Learning for Life: Paper on Adult Education Dublin: Stationery Office. pursuit of knowledge for either personal or professional reasons ...

. In December 2010 these functions were taken on by the

Learning and Justice Directorates The Scottish Government Education and Justice Directorates are a group of civil service Directorates in the Scottish Government created by a re-organisation. The individual directorates within the overarching Education and Justice Directorates ...

. The Directorates reported to the Director-General Leslie Evans. The Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning is Mike Russell.Scotland.gov.uk- Ministers
/ref> and he was then supported by the Minister for Children and Early Years, Adam Ingram MSP and by the Minister for Skills and Lifelong Learning,

Angela Constance Angela Constance (born 15 July 1970) is a Scottish politician serving as Minister for Drug Policy since 2020, having previously served in the Scottish Cabinet from 2014 to 2018. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), she has been the M ...

MSP at that time.

History

The Scottish Education Department (SED) came into being as the body responsible for schooling in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

when it was formed from the Church of Scotland's Board of Education for Scotland in 1872. The

Education (Scotland) Act 1872 The Education (Scotland) Act 1872 (35 & 36 Vict. c. 62) made elementary education for all children between the ages of 5 and 13 mandatory in Scotland. The Act achieved a more thorough transfer of existing schools to a public system than the 1 ...

continued to make education compulsory in Scotland and took over the running of schools from the Church of Scotland. Burgh as well as

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

schools now came under

School Boards A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional ar ...

run by local committees. It was originally called the Scotch Education Department (see Scotch), was a committee of

Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council The Privy Council (PC), officially His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its membership mainly comprises senior politicians who are current or former members of ei ...

, and had its offices in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...

. In 1885 the department became a responsibility of the new ministerial post of

Secretary for Scotland The secretary of state for Scotland ( gd, Rùnaire Stàite na h-Alba; sco, Secretar o State fir Scotland), also referred to as the Scottish secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for ...

, under whom the

Scottish Office The Scottish Office was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom from 1885 until 1999, exercising a wide range of government functions in relation to Scotland under the control of the Secretary of State for Scotland. Following the e ...

was set up in

Dover House Dover House is a Grade I-listed mansion in Whitehall, and the London headquarters of the Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland. The building also houses the Office of the Advocate General for Scotland and the Independent Commission ...

Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London. The road forms the first part of the A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea. It is the main thoroughfare running south from Trafalgar Square towards Parliament Squ ...

, London. In 1918 the department was moved to

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

and the name was changed to the Scottish Education Department, in accordance with Scottish usage. The Secretary for Scotland became the

Secretary of State for Scotland The secretary of state for Scotland ( gd, Rùnaire Stàite na h-Alba; sco, Secretar o State fir Scotland), also referred to as the Scottish secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for ...

in 1926. The department was renamed the Scottish Office Education Department (SOED) in 1991, and the Scottish Office Education and Industry Department (SOEID) in 1995. With

devolution Devolution is the statutory delegation of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to govern at a subnational level, such as a regional or local level. It is a form of administrative decentralization. Devolved territories ...

in 1999, the new Scottish Executive set up the Scottish Executive Education Department (SEED) to oversee school education, whilst the Scottish Executive Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Department – now Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning Department (ETLLD) – took over responsibility from the former SED for

further Further or Furthur may refer to: * ''Furthur'' (bus), the Merry Pranksters' psychedelic bus *Further (band), a 1990s American indie rock band *Furthur (band) Furthur was a rock band founded in 2009 by former Grateful Dead members Bob Weir and ...

and higher education, and also maintenance grants for Scottish university students, through the

Student Awards Agency for Scotland Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) is an Executive agency of the Scottish Government. It supports eligible Scottish students by paying their tuition fees, as well as offering bursaries and supplementary grants. It also assesses students app ...

, an

Executive Agency An executive agency is a part of a government department that is treated as managerially and budgetarily separate, to carry out some part of the executive functions of the United Kingdom government, Scottish Government, Welsh Government or Nor ...

of ETLLD. In May 2007, the new

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from t ...

government abolished the departments within the Scottish Executive. The Scottish Government is now structured around individual Directorates, grouped for some purposes under a Director-General.

Sponsorship of Agencies and Public Bodies

The Directorates sponsor the following executive agencies: *

Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education (HMIe) was an executive agency of the Scottish Government, responsible for the inspection of public and independent, primary and secondary schools, as well as further education colleges, community learning ...

* Social Work Inspection Agency *

They also provide funding for the following public bodies: *

General Teaching Council for Scotland The General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) (Scottish Gaelic: ''Comhairle Choitcheann Teagaisg na h-Alba'') is a fee based registered charity and the world's first independent self-regulating body for teaching. The current Chief Executive and ...

Learning and Teaching Scotland Learning and Teaching Scotland (LTS or LT Scotland) was a non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government, formed by the merger of the Scottish Consultative Council on the Curriculum (SCCC) and the Scottish Council for Educational Technol ...

* National Grid for Learning Scotland * Scottish Children's Reporter Administration *

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 ...

References

External links

{{Scottish Government Directorates Defunct departments of the Scottish Government Education in Scotland

History

Sponsorship of Agencies and Public Bodies

References

See also

External links