JOHN Swinney has shelved the Government’s Education Bill, saying the controversial and wide-ranging reforms can be achieved more quickly through better working with councils.
Opponents described the decision as a U-turn. It was, however, welcomed by councils and teachers unions. The bill would have brought in some of the biggest changes to the Scottish school system in a generation.
It would have seen the introduction of a new Headteachers’ Charter, giving heads more power over the curriculum, recruitment and budgets.
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Plans also included disbanding the General Teaching Council of Scotland, with its functions being handed over to a new Education Workforce Council.
While Swinney said the Scottish Government would not introduce the legislation to Holyrood “at this time”, he said he would return to Holyrood with the bill if “sufficient progress is not made over the next 12 months”.
The Deputy First Minister added: “We are fast tracking progress and so we expect progress to be sustained and swift.”
He told MSPs: “The Scottish Government and Scotland’s local councils have reached an agreement that endorses and embraces the principles of school empowerment and provides clear commitment to a school and teacher-led education system. And it does so without the need to wait 18 months for an education bill.”
The announcement came after the Government’s own expert body, the International Council of Education Advisers, urged it to “keep any legislative interventions to a minimum”.
Tory education spokeswoman Liz Smith hit out: “I have only one question – is the Cabinet Secretary not embarrassed by this complete shambles of a U-turn?”
Smith accused the Government of having broken a “promise to the people of Scotland” by not bringing in the legislation, while leaving “schools with even more uncertainty about their future”.
Labour’s Iain Gray said the flagship bill had “sailed off into the sunset” – branding the legislation “unwanted, unnecessary and misguided”.
Scottish Green education spokesman Ross Greer added: “This is a humiliating moment for the Deputy First Minister, whose proposals have been rejected by teachers, parents and opposition parties in Parliament.”
EIS general secretary Larry Flanagan welcomed the news, saying it was “the breathing space that teachers have been asking for”.
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