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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| SNP education secretary demoted | SNP education secretary demoted |
| (11 minutes later) | |
| Scotland's under-fire education secretary, Fiona Hyslop, has been demoted. | Scotland's under-fire education secretary, Fiona Hyslop, has been demoted. |
| Ms Hyslop has come under sustained opposition attack on issues including falling teacher numbers, cutting class sizes and school buildings. | |
| Culture Minister Mike Russell has been promoted to education secretary, while Ms Hyslop will take on his previous position. | |
| First Minister Alex Salmond said education needed a "fresh look". | First Minister Alex Salmond said education needed a "fresh look". |
| Mr Salmond, who has in the past defended Ms Hyslop's record as education secretary, said: "Schools policy has reached a difficult period with our disagreement with many local authorities about their failure to reduce class sizes by sustaining teacher numbers, while we have achieved a new record low in primary school class sizes. | |
| "It is appropriate that a fresh look is taken at this and other schooling issues to break the impasse for the benefit of parents, teachers and children. I believe that Michael Russell can bring new thinking to this tough task." | |
| The first minister said Ms Hyslop would do an "excellent job" as minister for culture and external affairs, a role which includes Europe and relations with the UK government. | |
| However, responsibility for the constitution has been stripped out of the post. | |
| Mr Salmond said he had personally taken responsibility for the forthcoming bill on an independence referendum. |