Secondary schools will begin seeing the arrival of inspectors examining the standards of education at the facilities from later this month.

The one-day visits will be focusing on aspects of teaching, student achievement and the support services available to pupils.

Schools will receive no advance notice of the inspections, which will typically involve inspectors evaluating the quality of teaching and learning during a number of lessons throughout the day.

However, the visits have been criticised by the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI), which described this mode of assessment as "unwarranted and unnecessary".

"It is the ASTI view that a one-off one-day visit to a school cannot provide any meaningful evaluation of the quality and effectiveness of education provided," the union stated.

The organisation has also recently expressed its opposition to several proposed reforms to the education system, such as a greater reliance on continuous assessment and fewer exams at the Junior Certificate level.

Written by Donal Walsh
 

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