SCOTTISH Government plans for an Education Bill have been pushed back until after the local government elections in May.
The government had promised the proposed legislation in early 2017, but John Swinney, the Education Secretary, said it would now take place later in the year.
The move means elections will take place without voters knowing exactly how controversial proposals to hand more power to headteachers will work.
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The electorate will also not know the detail of controversial proposals to set up educational regions to help run schools.
John Swinney, the Educational Secretary, said the government’s consultation on the future governance of schools needed longer to assess and that he did not want to bring forward legislation before then.
He said: “I have got 1100 responses from the governance review and I am obviously discussing issues around the governance review with our international advisers.
“In terms of timing I have got to be respectful to the local government election process which means that my time to say things in advance of that is quite limited.
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“I will judge the right moment to give my response, but the government is committed to an Education Bill.”
The intention of the legislation is to ensure decisions about children’s learning are taken as close as possible to local communities.
However, the consultation on the changes threw up significant concerns with many warning schools would be unable to cope because of under-staffing.
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And parents said they felt excluded because consultation documents were “laden with jargon”.
Iain Gray, education spokesman for the Scottish Labour Party, said: “John Swinney has received over 1,000 responses to his consultation, yet he can’t give an answer on when he will respond.
"This shows complete disrespect to those who are keen to help make education better.
"Going into local government elections without telling voters what SNP plans are for our schools shows contempt for the electorate."
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