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Lib Dem MSP Tavish Scott says he does not agree with Mr Swinney's logic on Education Scotland.

Mr Scott says these proposals will be seen as too top down.

The education secretary says he does not see that and says he does not think he and Mr Scott disagree.

Mr Swinney says he does not want to be proscribing issues as that would be alien to the Curriculum for Excellence.

He says he wants to proceed with these reforms with as much consensus as possible.

Green MSP Ross Greer says, over the last ten years, schools have lost teachers and this creates more workload.

He asks if plans will increase headteachers' workload further.

Mr Swinney says headteachers want to be leaders of learning and that he is not going to set up HR systems within individual schools.

He says he wants headteachers to have the responsibility for the teachers working in their schools.

Nicola Sturgeon said that falling literacy standards in Scottish schools made her "utterly determined" to press on with education reforms during first minister's questions on 11 May 2017.

The latest Scottish survey of literacy and numeracy showed reading and writing skills have declined.

Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson asked whether the first minister was "embarrassed, ashamed or both" by the statistics.

Ms Sturgeon said she would "carry on with the changes we're making".

The literacy statistics, which were published by the Scottish government in May, showed that fewer than half of Scotland's 13 and 14-year-olds are able to write well.

The writing performance of P4 and P7 pupils has also dropped, while the reading ability of P4, P7 and S2 pupils remains broadly similar to 2014 - but lower than 2012.

SNP MSP James Dornan says teacher workload has been a recurring theme in evidence to the Education Committee.

Mr Dornan, who is the Education Committee convener, asks for more detail on the support available to teachers.

Mr Swinney says the government are working to make sure teachers have a range of expertise available to them and that reducing workload is still a priority.

Mr Swinney announced reforms to put schools in charge of key decisions about a child’s education, including:

• Responsibility for raising attainment and closing the poverty-related gap in their school
• Choosing school staff and management structure
• Deciding curriculum content, within a broad national framework
• Directly controlling more school funding, with a consultation on fair funding launched today

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Mr Swinney says new powers will be guaranteed in a statutory charter for headteachers, and young people and parents will also have a stronger voice in schools.

In addition, every school will have access to a ‘home to school’ link worker to support parents and families.

The education secretary said:

Schools’ lead role in the reformed system will be backed by three pillars of support:

• Enhanced career and development opportunities for teachers, including continuing reform to Initial Teacher Education
• New Regional Improvement Collaboratives to provide streamlined and strengthened support to teachers, including access to teams of attainment experts drawn from local authorities and Education Scotland

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The Scottish government has been accused of kicking education reform "into the long grass" after a delay to its Education Bill.

Nicola Sturgeon defended "right and proper" plans to put back legislation with a large number of consultation responses to consider.

Education was raised by all opposition parties during the weekly session of first minister's questions.

There were angry exchanges as the government was accused of "stalling".

The proposed legislation was originally meant to be published early in 2017, but Education Secretary John Swinney has now said it will be published "sometime during 2017" so he has time to "chew over" some 1,100 responses to a school governance review.

Read more here.

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Mr Swinney says he is exercising his duty as an education secretary by considering proposals put to him.

The education secretary says pedagogical support must have drive to improve education.

He says there needs to be more specialist expertise in place.

The deputy first minister says the government has put in place resources to increase teacher numbers.

He says the government is enhancing pedagogical advice in Scotland.

Labour MSP Iain Gray says he is delighted that Mr Swinney has dropped the idea of centralising funding.

Mr Gray says it appears that he still wants to decide individual school budgets regionally and nationally.

The Labour MSP asks out regional centralisaion plans will not just add another layer of bureaucracy.

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Mr Swinney says he welcomes the comments from Liz Smith on empowering schools and headteachers.

The education secretary says he thinks pupil equity funding has made a huge impact on Scottish education already.

He says he is trying to strike the balance between the autonomy of schools and providing support to headteachers.

Any guidelines must be supportive guidelines and he says teachers value having guidance and freedom he says.

Mr Swinney says to separate the inspection and improvement functions in education, schools would be required to work out whether to follow the instructions of the inspectorate or the improvement body.

He says on Regional Collaboratives, they are mandatory collaborations between local authorities and Education Scotland.

Tory MSP Liz Smith says the Scottish Conservatives want more power for headteachers and that she is pleased to see the government are now going in that direction.

Ms Smith says the "reforms do not go far enough."

The Tory MSP asks why headteachers will not have full autonomy on the Pupil Equity Fund.

Ms Smith asks if the introduction of regional boards is not counter to the Scottish government's plans.

Mr Swinney says: "We will free our teachers to teach.

"We will put new powers in the hands of our headteachers.

"We will ensure that parents, families and communities play a bigger role in school life and in their children’s learning.

"And we will all – government, councils, and agencies - support our schools to do what they do best: transform the life chances of our children.

"This must be the vision of all of us for the future of Scotland’s schools."

Mr Swinney says Bill Maxwell, the chief executive of Education Scotland, is retiring on the 30 June.

He confirms, that on an interim basis, Karen Reid, chief executive of the Care Inspectorate will lead Education Scotland, supported by Graeme Logan as interim chief inspector and chief education adviser.

The process for the appointment of a permanent Chief Inspector of Education, who will also lead Education Scotland and be my principal Education adviser, will start in the summer he says.

Mr Swinney says local authorities will continue to play a vital role in education.

The education secretary says councillors will play a crucial role in making sure schools have the support framework required.

He says the Scottish government and national bodies have a clear role to play in education reform.

Mr Swinney says Education Scotland will be given a renewed focus.

Mr Swinney says Education Scotland will undergo significant change with strengthened inspection and improvement functions.

Mr Swinney says the third pillar of support will be delivered exclusively by local government.

He says local authorities will retain a vital role in our education system, with responsibility for a wide range of education support services, including:

• the number and catchment areas of schools in their area;
• the provision of denominational and Gaelic medium schools;
• the administration of placing and admissions procedures, including for children with additional support needs;
• the provision of back-office support services such as HR;
• and securing excellent headteachers for the schools in their area.

Mr Swinney says:" We must build the capacity for educational improvement within the system by putting in place the second pillar - a revolutionised offer of support and improvement.

" We will establish Regional Improvement Collaboratives - to pool and strengthen resources to support learning and teaching in Scotland’s schools.

" Led by a new Regional Director reporting to the Chief Inspector of Education, these collaboratives will provide educational improvement support through dedicated teams of professionals.

"These teams will draw on Education Scotland staff, local authority staff and others."

Mr Swinney says: "We will, therefore, give headteachers more power over decisions on learning and teaching, freeing them to make a real difference to the lives of children and young people.

" At the heart of this will be a statutory Headteachers' Charter."

The education secretary says:

Headteachers will:

be the leaders of learning in their schools, responsible for raising attainment and closing the attainment gap;

be free to select and manage the teachers and staff in their school; • determine their own school management and staffing structure

decide on curriculum content

and directly control a significantly increased proportion of school funding

Mr Swinney says: "We will enhance Parent Councils and modernise and strengthen the legislation on parental involvement to enable all parents to play a role in their local school and particularly in their children's learning."

Mr Swinney says that the collaborative approach is critical to to governance in schools.

The education secretary says some teachers have been frustrated by the lack of opportunity to progress.

He says that the government will continue to develop new routes into teaching.

Mr Swinney says there are three key pillars:

• enhanced career and development opportunities for teachers
• improvement services delivered by new regional collaboratives
• and support services from councils

Mr Swinney says: " We will enhance Parent Councils and modernise and strengthen the legislation on parental involvement to enable all parents to play a role in their local school and particularly in their children's learning."