Quality of teaching - Consistency is important

A report by the Economic and Social Research Institute suggests that there are significant differences in the way children in different schools are being taught.

The research is based on interviews with 8,500 nine year olds at 850 different schools.

There are distinct variations not only between schools but also even within some schools. Female teachers tend to devote more time to drama, art and religion classes, while their male counterparts tend to concentrate more on English, maths, Irish, and physical education.