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School Inspection Reports

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 13 March 2019

Wednesday, 13 March 2019

Ceisteanna (145)

John Lahart

Ceist:

145. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Education and Skills the reason for the delay in publishing the outcome of the whole school inspection of a school (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12563/19]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

The Inspectorate is committed to evaluating schools in a way that is fair, consistent and transparent. The general principles in accordance with which the Inspectorate carries out its work are set out in the Code of Practice for the Inspectorate. (2015)

While the great majority of inspections to schools and other settings are carried out successfully, occasionally a board of a school or a teacher or other educational practitioner may be dissatisfied with an aspect of the inspection process or an Inspectorate report. When these cases arise the board of management, teacher or practitioner may seek a review of the work of an inspector or an inspection report and the procedures for such reviews are published in the document Procedure for Review of Inspections on Schools and Teachers under Section 13(9) of the Education Act, 1998. (September 2015).

One of the principles underpinning these procedure is that the concerns of teachers or boards are best resolved informally. For this reason, the Procedure for Review incorporates an Informal Review process as well as a Formal Review process. If the concern remains unresolved following the Informal Review process, the teacher, practitioner or board may request a Formal Review of the inspection.

A Formal Review involves the examination of the matter by an Internal Reviewer and an External Reviewer, and that that process must be exhausted before a report may be published.

In the case of the school concerned, a request for an Informal Review was received and processed. The person seeking the Informal Review was not satisfied that their concern was addressed in the Informal Review and they have sought a Formal Review of the inspection. The Formal Review has not concluded so it is not possible at this stage to state when the inspection report will be published.

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