The
Scottish Education Department (SED) came into being as the body responsible for schooling in
Scotland when it was formed from the
Church of Scotland's
Board of Education for Scotland in 1872. The
Education (Scotland) Act 1872 continued to make education compulsory in Scotland and took over the running of schools from the Church of Scotland.
Burgh as well as
parish schools now came under
School Boards 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, and had its offices in
London. In 1885 the department became a responsibility of the new ministerial post of
Secretary for Scotland, under whom the
Scottish Office was set up in
Dover House,
Whitehall, London. In 1918 the department was moved to
Edinburgh 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 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 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 and
higher education, and also maintenance grants for
Scottish university students, through the
Student Awards Agency for Scotland, an
Executive Agency of ETLLD. In May 2007, the new
Scottish National Party 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 •
Social Work Inspection Agency •
Student Awards Agency for Scotland They also provide funding for the following public bodies: •
General Teaching Council for Scotland •
Learning and Teaching Scotland •
National Grid for Learning Scotland •
Scottish Children's Reporter Administration •
Scottish Qualifications Authority ==References==