(CNN) -- Saudi King Abdullah has appointed a woman to the council of ministers for the first time as part of a Cabinet reshuffle, networks including Saudi state-run Channel One reported Saturday.
Saudi King Abdullah has appointed a woman to his council of ministers for the first time.
King Abdullah announced a new supreme court chief, minister of health, justice minister and information minister as part of the reshuffling, according to Channel One.
King Abdullah appointed Noor Al-Fayez to the Saudi Council of Ministers. She will serve in a new position as deputy minister for women's education.
"I'm very proud to be nominated and selected for such a prestigious position," Al-Faiz told CNN on Saturday. "I hope that other ladies, females, will follow in the future."
"People are very excited about this," said Khaled Al-Maeena, editor-in-chief of Arab News, an English-language daily newspaper in Saudi Arabia. "This sends a clear signal that the King means business. Instead of appointing some bureaucrat, he appointed a woman."
Jamal Khashoggi, editor-in-chief of the Al-Watan Daily newspaper, told CNN the reshuffle signals a major change in his country.
"This is a huge step forward, in education, women's place in society," said Khashoggi.
Al-Faiz said she's confident she won't just be a token member of the council.
"I think by being the second person after the minister, I think I have enough power to work in the improvement of girls' education," she said.
The new appointments are the largest council shakeup since King Abdullah took power in 2005.
Maeena also said the other new appointments by King Abdullah were very "progressive" moves.
Some other new appointments were:
CNN's Mohammed Jamjoom contributed to this report.
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