It mandated the establishment of publicly funded, Church-supervised schools in every parish of Scotland.
The act stated:[1][2] The act reflected the current status of the ongoing Episcopalian-Presbyterian power struggle by specifying school supervision by bishops (as per the Episcopalian view; the Presbyterian view was supervision by presbyteries).
[citation needed] For the most part, the act was inspired by adherence to the principles of Knox's Book of Discipline.
[4] Those who were sympathetic towards Highland culture praised the objective of promoting universally available education, but noted that government efforts in the Isles and Highlands were anti-Gaelic and not pro-education.
The privy council act remained in effect into the nineteenth century as one of the principal statutes for the management of schools under Scots Law.