Before today's public announcement of her resignation Lesley Longstone sent an email to staff explaining the reasons for her "extremely difficult'' decision.
State Services Commissioner Iain Rennie today announced he had accepted the Secretary for Education and chief executive's decision to leave her role.
Before the decision was made public, she sent out the following email:
"Dear colleague, at noon today Iain Rennie, the State Services Commissioner, will be announcing my resignation from the position of Chief Executive of the Ministry of Education and Secretary for Education. This has been an extremely difficult decision for me and one that I want you to understand.
2012 was, without doubt, a very challenging year for the ministry. The extent of change has been great and in more than a few cases, controversial. At the same time, we can look back proudly on a number of achievements that would not have been possible without the commitment and hard work of so many talented people working here in the ministry. I know that so many of you have gone the extra mile and I am so grateful for the support I have had over the past year.