( 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 wo n'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 .
Saudi King Abdullah appoints a woman to council of ministers for first time . The move comes after the king named his wife as deputy prime minister and made her one of three women in cabinet. Khaled Al-Maeena , editor-in-chief of Arab News , says people `` excited '' by move .