The intensity of the inspection process for British schools would shock teachers and parents in this State. Emmet Oliver reports

British-style inspections are far more thorough and detailed than anything carried out in this State and, crucially, all inspection reports are made available to the general public.

Here, inspection reports on individual schools are kept secret - a policy supported enthusiastically by the three teacher unions.

Most Irish teachers would understandably shudder if they had to face the scrutiny of the all-powerful British agency, Ofsted (Office for Standards in Education which is responsible for inspections.

Set up a decade ago, Ofsted, has had a controversial existence with its former boss Chris Woodhead becoming something of a bogeyman for British and, indeed, some Irish teachers.

While the inspection regime in Britain is regularly derided by teachers here, Ofsted - and Woodhead in particular - has long argued that regular inspection is the best way to improve standards of achievement and quality of education in schools.

The sheer depth and scale of the inspection regime in Britain would astound most teachers and parents here.

Essentially this is how it works. Schools are given notice that an inspection will take place within six to 10 weeks. When that day comes, there are up to 15 members of the inspection team that visits the school. This team is made up of education experts, former teachers and former school heads. It usually includes several experts in the main subject areas.

The team spends at least a week in the school and teachers are observed in their classrooms at least once, possibly several times. The homework and classroom work of pupils is sampled. Extra-curricular activities are observed and evaluated. Inspectors also sit in on staff and teacher meetings.

The inspectors even hold discussions with the pupils and parents are asked to submit a survey on how well they think the school is doing. The results of this survey are eventually published in the inspection report, which is made available to the general public.

The reports are remarkably frank. They list what the school is doing well and where it is failing. It spells out how the school is performing in exams, it comments on the quality of teaching and whether the taxpayer is getting value for money.

While British-style inspection is derided here as a Thatcherite idea with too narrow a focus, in fairness the reports don't just concentrate on exam results. They also look at attendance, ethos, leadership and management, curriculum, students with special needs, staffing resources and crucially the spiritual, moral and social development of pupils.

Such broad-ranging inspections are unlikely to happen here- at least not in the short term - but the gap between the inspection regime in this State and in Britain is stark. While the British system often appears overly obsessed with inspections and standards, in the Republic of Ireland we often appear too relaxed about such issues.

To be fair, many would argue that the British system has crushed the morale of teachers, and teachers unions there have directly linked the suicide of two teachers to their fear of the dreaded Ofsted inspectors.

This is denied by Ofsted. Asked to comment on allegations that schools and teachers often feel traumatised and demoralised by Ofsted inspectors, Chris Woodhead accused the teacher unions of a "patronising assumption of moral superioriy". Ouch.