The Minister for Education, Mr Martin, has announced a £2 million initiative to help 1,100 primary and post-primary schools in disadvantaged areas develop plans to improve their teaching and management.
Under the new Education Act each school is required to set out a plan to outline its educational philosophy, its aims and how it proposes to achieve them.
Such a plan would cover issues like achievement of numeracy and literacy, pupil assessment, record-keeping, staff development and teachers' preparation, homework, behaviour, home-school links, equal opportunities for boys and girls, inter-cultural education and health and safety standards.
Many school authorities, particularly those in disadvantaged areas, have complained that school planning will give already stretched principals and staff impossible extra burdens.
The new initiative, to be implemented over two years, will provide school planning guidelines; direct grant aid; school planning facilitators, co-ordinators and regional officers and a special pilot project at second level. Overall, however, it will provide the schools involved with an average of less than £2,000 each for their planning activities.
Fine Gael education spokesman Mr Richard Bruton and the National Parents Council (Primary) both welcomed and criticised the announcement. Mr Bruton criticised the Minister's proposals for making no commitment to meet "resource deficiencies identified in the course of the planning process", and for removing "the obligation on schools to report to parents".
The NPC warned that parents and students must be part of the planning process along with teachers. It said parents had good reason to be anxious about their inclusion in this process, since the pilot project on whole school evaluation had ignored their views.
Mr Martin also announced reductions in pupil-teacher ratios for children with disabilities in special schools and special classes.
The pupil-teacher ratio for children with a mild learning disability will be cut from 13:1 to 11:1; the ratios for children with a moderate learning disability and for emotionally disturbed children will go from 9:1 to 8:1; and for physically disabled children from 12:1 to 10:1.
Mr Martin said the reductions would "complete the process of bringing the ratios in all special schools and special classes down to the levels recommended by the Special Education Review".