Style Cabinet Secretary Inaugural holder Sam Galbraith Website www.gov.scot | Appointer First Minister Formation 1999 | |
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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.
Contents
The Cabinet Secretary is supported by the Minister for Further Education, Higher Education and Science and the Minister for Childcare and Early Years which are both junior ministerial posts.
The current Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills is John Swinney, who was appointed in May 2016.
Responsibilities
The responsibilities of the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills include:
Government Strategy, Delivery and outcomes across portfolios, Resilience, School standards, Educational attainment and closing the attainment gap, National Improvement Framework, Quality and improvement, Teaching profession, School infrastructure and staffing, Qualifications, Behaviour, Measures to combat bullying, The Gaelic and Scots languages, Modern languages, Historical Abuse Inquiry, Named person, Cross Government co-ordination of Public Service Reform, Childcare implementation, Early years, Child protection, Social services workforce, Adoption and Fostering, Children’s rights, Looked after children, Children’s hearings, Protection of vulnerable groups, Children’s services, Widening Access, Higher education and universities, Further education and colleges, Student funding, Science and STEM, Youth work, Skills Development Scotland, Implementation of Wood recommendations.
Public bodies
The following public bodies report to the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning:
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.