Denis Naughten (Longford-Roscommon, Fine Gael)
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Question 114: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the timescale for the publication of the first whole school evaluation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5569/06]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I laid a signed copy of the Education Act 1998 (Publication of Inspection Reports on Schools and Centres for Education) Regulations 2006 before the Houses of the Oireachtas on Tuesday, 31 January 2006. The purpose of these regulations was to place a legal obligation on the chief inspector to publish reports prepared as a result of school inspections. Simultaneously, my Department published guidelines on the publication of school inspection reports. These guidelines apply to all whole school evaluations commenced on or after 6 February 2006.

A number of whole school evaluations planned for 2006 had already commenced before 6 February and the reports arising from these evaluations will not be published by my Department.

At post-primary level, inspectors will be conducting the in-school phase of the first whole school evaluations to which the regulations and guidelines will apply in the period 27 February — 3 March. It is expected that written reports will be issued to schools for factual verification four to five weeks later. A period of 20 school days is allowed to the board of management of a school to respond, if it so wishes, to the findings and recommendations of the report. It should be noted that the two week Easter school holiday period will occur during the processing of these reports.

A printed copy of each report will be issued to the school's board, principal, trustees or patron, parents' association and the chief executive officer of the vocational education committee, if relevant. An electronic version of the report, normally accompanied by the school response, will then be prepared and published on the website of my Department. It is expected that publication on the website will occur from mid-May onwards.

At primary level, a number of whole school evaluations to which the publication guidelines and regulations apply will also be underway in February. As in the case of the post-primary evaluations, reports arising from these inspections are also expected to be available for publication from mid-May onwards.

A school or a teacher has the right to seek a review of any inspection as provided for by section 13(9) of the Education Act 1998. Should a school or teacher request such a review, publication will not take place until after the request for a review was processed in accordance with the published procedures on this matter.