Northern Ireland’s education system is working, but is still leaving too many pupils behind.

This was the conclusion of Noelle Buick, Chief Inspector of the Education and Training Inspectorate, in her biennial report for the period 2010-12.

The report identifies three key themes regarding education in Northern Ireland: namely achieving value, learning skills and transforming communities.

Mrs Buick was delivering her findings to representatives from the youth, training and education sectors.

She said: "I see education here as a vital enabler for society, helping improve the life chances of children and young people and in turn opening up a world of opportunity for them. The evidence of inspections in the last two years shows that, for the majority of learners, the education system is delivering on this aim.

"The education and training sectors in Northern Ireland are operating within the constraints of significant financial challenges while working to deliver the best possible service to learners.

"More and more children are leaving school each year with five good GCSEs, including English and mathematics, giving them the choice of entering training, employment or continuing with academic studies.

"It is also the case, however, that inspection across the sectors has identified some areas for improvement which, if addressed, would help ensure that even more young people get the most out of their learning careers."

In her report, the Chief Inspector found 22% of primary schools and 39% of post-primary schools found the quality of leadership and management was "not good enough."

It also found that the effectiveness of Boards of Governors could be improved in 20% of primary schools and 34% of post-primaries.

She concluded: "Inspection makes a difference. Last year 81% of organisations that required a follow-up inspection showed a marked improvement in performance and the figures are similar this year."

(IT)