It's looks like it will be a 'C+, Could Do Better' mark for the local education system as the latest biennial report for the period 2008-2010 was revealed this morning.

While the official probe has shown good improvement in a number of areas in the past two years, it also said significant challenges remain to be addressed.

That was the message from the Chief Inspector of the Education and Training Inspectorate, Stanley Goudie, as he launched his assessment at 10am this morning.

He said there were both areas of strong performance and areas that require improvement.

Mr Goudie presented his findings to representatives of the education, training and youth sectors and said: "My report examines education, youth and work-based provision right across Northern Ireland and provides evidence that in many areas learners are being served to a high standard.

"Practitioners in the range of sectors which have been inspected can be proud of the vital contribution they make. Learners of all ages are benefiting from their expertise and dedication and it is important that we recognise and applaud the value of the service they provide," he commented.

"It is also true that there are areas where provision is less than satisfactory and, for various reasons, is not delivering the value and benefit to the learner that it should."

"The last two years have seen significant change in the education system here, with a number of new policies beginning to have positive impact. Initiatives such as Every School a Good School, launched last year by the Department of Education, place a welcome and renewed emphasis on raising standards.

"There is now a robust framework in place to support schools when inspection shows provision to be below the required standard and already we have seen real improvements as a direct result," he said.

He also said there have been widespread changes in the local curriculum and in teaching and learning methods: "The focus on how to improve learning has led to improvements in the strategies used in 75% of our schools, a major success," he continued.

"Many of our schools and teachers do provide high quality education. However, there are some of our schools, which perform better than those of similar type and intake."

Concerns

However, parallel to these successes are areas which continue to give cause for concern, including the quality of leadership in some 25% of the primary and post-primary schools inspected over the reporting period: "The Inspectorate found mixed performance with regard to quality of provision for learners with Special Educational Needs (SEN).

"There is a need to further build the capacity of staff in mainstream classes and units to meet more effectively the needs of the increasing number of children presenting with SEN.

"In contrast, there has been improvement in the standard of provision for those with Moderate Learning Difficulties (MLD) and Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) within mainstream settings," he said.

Commenting on the quality of provision in the further education sector Mr Goudie said: "Colleges have responded to a range of challenges including a significant increase in enrolments for 2009/10.

"Over the two years of the report we have seen improvements in the quality of provision across the skills areas. While the economic situation has led to more students in further education, it has conversely led to a significant reduction in the numbers of new apprentices employed by firms."

During the reporting period there were inspections of around one half of the suppliers contracted under the Training for Success and ApprenticeshipsNI programmes. The quality of the provision was evaluated as satisfactory or better in just over three-quarters of the suppliers inspected.

The Chief Inspector reported that the organisations sponsored by the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL) continued to make an important contribution to life-long learning.

Within these organisations there is a range of rich and diverse cultural, language, sport and scientific resources to support both learners and teachers.

Concluding, Mr Goudie said: "In the current difficult and challenging economic times, it is vital that we equip our children, young people and adult learners with the necessary skills and knowledge to be able to make their way in the world and contribute to society.

"By building on the successes of the last two years and focussing on redressing the problems in the system, we will go a long way to ensuring that the needs of the learner are met as far as possible."

(BMcC/KMcA)