The Department of Education has launched a public consultation on the proposals, which will run until 10 July 2025.

The new offence would bring Northern Ireland in line with the rest of the UK and Ireland, where it is already an offence to obstruct the inspection processes in other jurisdictions.

Education minister Paul Givan said: “Inspections are crucial for ensuring every young person and child has access to a good quality education. They provide independent assessments of the quality of education and contribute to school improvement by identifying areas where schools need to enhance their provision.

“The absence of inspection during the past decade means many schools may not have been identified to receive the support they need to improve. This impacts on all learners but impacts most on those children and young people who are disadvantaged and vulnerable.

“Inspections must be allowed to operate effectively and as intended. That is why I am proposing to bring forward a standalone bill to remove any ambiguity from our current legislation and create an absolute requirement to cooperate with inspection.”

He added: “School inspection is about empowering our teaching workforce to improve the quality of education and safeguard our children and young people.

“Inspection helps us to understand what is working well and where support is required. It provides assurances to the public that our schools and other education and training establishments are providing quality education.

“It also helps to ensure appropriate child protection arrangements are in place and that basic requirements around teaching and delivering the curriculum are being met. It is a vital process for all our learners.

“A failure to safeguard inspection is a failure to safeguard our children. I encourage all those with an interest in this important area especially parents across Northern Ireland to contribute to the consultation.”