Vol. 467 No. 7
238 Mr. Lawlor asked the Minister for Education her views on the alleged increase in the number of school inspectors required to administer her proposals for whole school inspection; the increase in the number of inspections involved; and the estimated costs in this regard. [14378/96]
The White Paper states that "the Central Inspectorate will evaluate and report on the quality and effectiveness of the provision of educational services at regional and national levels — on the basis of selective audits and a limited number of annual in-depth inspections of schools". The White Paper also states that "inspectors assigned to the (regional education) boards will carry out in-depth inspections on a range of schools on a regular, cyclical basis". These inspections will be called "Whole School Inspections".
A discussion document containing proposals on whole school inspection was presented to the partners at a conference in Dublin in March 1996. These proposals are only at the discussion stage and it is not possible to give any accurate or reliable estimate of the increase, if any, in the number of inspectors needed to administer the scheme or of the estimated cost of any increase in the number of inspections.
