Chief Inspector delivers EQI Keynote Lecture

Dr Harold Hislop, Chief Inspector at the Department of Education and Skills, delivered the Inaugural Centre for Evaluation, Quality and Inspection (EQI)  Keynote Lecture recently. Entitled A co-professional approach to inspection for accountability and improvement: progress and prospects in the Irish context the lecture provided a comprehensive overview of the development, current realities and future challenges facing school inspection and evaluation in Ireland. Dr Hislop introduced the lecture as an opportunity for ‘self-reflection’ and proceeded to deliver a challenging analysis of the system that has emerged over recent years.

Acknowledging the work of EQI in the field, Dr Hislop ‘warmly welcomed’ the role that it has played since its foundation in 2006 and acknowledged the commitment of the DCU Institute of Education and DCU as a whole to the enhancement of educational provision in Ireland.

Highlighting the decision made by the Inspectorate to recognise that inspection needed to serve both an accountability and an improvement function as one of the most important of recent times, Dr Hislop unwrapped the implications of this for the development of the Irish education system. 

The wide-ranging address by Dr Hislop concluded with a challenge to Higher Education Institutions to engage with schools in order to enhance their capacity of in the areas of evaluation and inspection.

The full text of Dr Hislop’s lecture is available here