The dispute between the INTO and Minister for Education Mary Hanafin over the planned publication of school inspection reports seems about to intensify, with teachers set to demand a range of additional safeguards if they are to co-operate with the inspections.
A meeting of the INTO executive late last night heard a series of complaints about the proposed publication. The meeting continues this morning and is likely to seek:
• An expanded complaints procedure for teachers criticised in the reports.
• An opportunity for schools to respond to criticisms in the body of the reports instead of in a separate document.
• A common agreed system for the manner in which reports are written.
• A reference in all reports to staffing, funding and other challenges facing each school.
Last month, the INTO conference decided to withdraw co-operation with school inspections until its concerns about the planned publication of the school inspection reports, due to begin next month, are resolved.
The Minister has said she will see non co-operation with school inspectors as industrial action and a breach of the partnership agreement, Sustaining Progress.
Continued non-co-operation could see primary teachers lose up to €1,200 in payments due under Sustaining Progress. The final 2.5 per cent pay rise is due next month.
INTO members say individual teachers will be identified and their reputations may be unfairly damaged by the planned publication on the Department of Education website.
Inspection reports on some 177 primary and 48 second-level schools are due to be published on the web this year. The department hopes to roll out 32 primary school reports and six second-level reports by the end of next month.
School inspection or Whole School Evaluation (WSE) reports cover teaching and learning in a school. They are not designed to target individuals but INTO members say teachers, especially in small schools, will be easy to identify.
Yesterday, Ms Hanafin said WSE would present a rounded picture of a school. She signalled they were a better alternative than school league tables based on the "narrow focus of exam results".
In a related development, Information Commissioner Emily O'Reilly, in her annual report yesterday, said parents would continue to demand exam results given the dominance of the CAO points race in education. She was also highly critical of the Department of Education approach to public information issues.
The Minister responded that league tables would only pit schools against one another and create an unfair and unhealthy competition among schools.
Earlier this year a Mori poll showed high satisfaction with the inspectorate among teachers. Some 87 per cent were satisfied with evaluation and reporting procedures.