Teachers will gain more control over schools in an overhaul of the education system in Scotland, according to John Swinney.

The education secretary launched a three-month review of school governance and funding on Tuesday.

He said the review would begin with the assumption that "decisions will be devolved to school level," with new educational regions put in place.

Swinney gave a statement to MSPs at Holyrood on Tuesday setting out his proposals, which will encourage "clusters" of nearby schools to work together.

The educational regions would "ensure best practice is shared more systematically," according to a Scottish Government consultation.

Swinney said: "Our guiding principle for the way our schools are run is simple. Decisions should be taken at school level. That will be our presumption and we will place it at the heart of this review.

"This is a vision of empowerment and devolution. We will empower our teachers and our early years workers to make the best decisions for our young people.

"We will place them at the heart of a system that makes decisions about children's learning within the schools themselves, supported by parents and the local community."

He added: "Will never go down the divisive academy model. And there will be no return to selection or Grammar schools.

"Our reform will be based on evidence of what works. The evidence shows that systematic collaborative engagement at every level of education is what builds capacity and delivers the best outcomes for children and young people."

He said he would listen to views from communities across Scotland on the plans.

A spokesman for Cosla said: "Obviously today is only the start of a consultation process, however, that said, I think we remain concerned that this is as open as we would hope and that we are not facing a set of pre-decided outcomes.

"Once again we would appeal to Mr Swinney to proceed with caution. The aim of central government, local government and all those with an interest in young people is the same, we all have similar aspirations, we all want them to succeed."

Scotland's largest teaching union welcomed the consultation but said it would "robustly combat" any moves to change arrangements for teachers' pay and conditions.

EIS general secretary Larry Flanagan said: "The EIS believes that there is scope for greater support being provided to schools without compromising local democratic accountability.

"The focus of any governance review should be on how teaching and learning can be supported more effectively, rather than evolving into a turf war between the Scottish Government and local authorities."

"It is important, also, that schools themselves are democratic places where teachers have a voice in how education is delivered.

"The EIS is also very clear that teachers pay and conditions must remain as nationally negotiated issues and would combat robustly any moves to attack the current arrangements."