Education Minister has launched a public
consultation on proposals to strengthen cooperation with the
inspection process across schools and other education and
training organisations in Northern Ireland.
The consultation sets out proposals to change the law to protect
inspection by making it an offence to obstruct the inspection
process.
Setting out the rationale for change, said: “Inspections are
crucial for ensuring every young person and child has access
to a good quality education. They provide independent
assessments of the quality of education and contribute to school
improvement by identifying areas where schools need to enhance
their provision.
“The absence of inspection during the past decade, means
many schools may not have been identified to receive the support
they need to improve. This impacts on all learners but impacts
most on those children and young people who are disadvantaged and
vulnerable.
“Inspections must be allowed to operate effectively and
as intended. That is why I am proposing to bring
forward a standalone Bill to remove any ambiguity from our
current legislation and create an absolute requirement to
cooperate with inspection.”
The purpose of the consultation proposals is to place Northern
Ireland in line with the rest of the United Kingdom and Republic
of Ireland, where it is already an offence to obstruct the
inspection process.
The Minister continued: “School Inspection is about
empowering our teaching workforce to improve the quality of
education and safeguard our children and young people. Inspection
helps us to understand what is working well and where support is
required. It provides assurances to the public that our schools
and other education and training establishments are providing
quality education. It also helps to ensure appropriate child
protection arrangements are in place and that basic requirements
around teaching and delivering the curriculum are being met. It
is a vital process for all our learners.
“A failure to safeguard inspection, is a failure to
safeguard our children. I encourage all those with an interest in
this important area especially parents across Northern Ireland to
contribute to the consultation.”
The consultation will run from 15 May to 10 July 2025 and can be
found at the following link - https://www.education-ni.gov.uk/consultations/strengthening-inspection-legislation
Notes to editors:
- An equality screening exercise was carried out and concluded
that a full equality impact assessment was not required. The
screening can be found at – https://www.education-ni.gov.uk/publications/equality-and-human-rights-policy-screening-strengthening-inspection-legislation-schools-and-other-education-and-training-establishments.
