THE education service in Monmouthshire has been slated in an official report - despite having some of the best-performing schools in Wales.

Both the current performance and the prospects for improvement of the local education authority have been rated 'unsatisfactory' by Estyn, the Welsh independent inspection service.

Inspectors found weaknesses in key areas and have placed the education authority in 'special measures'.

Monmouthshire County Council now has 50 days to tell the Welsh Government how it is going to turn things around.

While performance in the county's schools is better than the Welsh average across all age groups and among the best in primary schools, the picture changes when the relatively low level of deprivation in the county is taken into account.

The report states, "...performance compared to that of similar schools based on free school meal entitlement has been well below average for the last four years although the picture in 2012 is an improvement on previous years. Overall it remains well below average overall."

Among the reasons for the overall judgement of 'unsatisfactory' were progress between primary and secondary education, the high number of fixed term exclusions, weakness in planning for additional learning needs and the fact that arrangements for supporting and challenging schools are not robust enough.

Inspectors say the prospects for improvement are unsatisfactory because of a lack of strategic direction, councillors not being given the information they need to hold the service to account and the facts that systems needed to know where to direct resources to best effect for learners are not in place.

Leader of the council Councillor Peter Fox said he was 'disappointed' by the tone of the report, but accepted the findings and would use them as a platform to drive up standards.

He said, "Nowhere in this report will you find that we have failed.

"There are many positives in the report – it acknowledges we have some of the best-performing schools in Wales and that we are protecting the education of our children.

"That is what mums and dads across Monmouthshire will understand.

"Some of the criticism is fair and I accept it and I am determined to use the report as a platform on which to move forward."

Leader of the Labour group Councillor Roger Harris said Councillor Liz Hackett-Pain, the cabinet member for education, should resign.

"It's a major tragedy for the pupils, headteachers and school staff that they are not getting the managerial support from the educational authority they deserve," he said.

"Previous questioning with the cabinet member for education over the rumours associated with this report have not been satisfactory and on the strength of the published reported we are calling for her resignation. We will also be calling for an extraordinary meeting of this council to discuss the report and its consequences.

"It is also a tragedy that the chief officer for education in the authority left before we had a chance to question him over this report and likewise his replacement retired shortly afterwards.

"We also question why their replacement chose not to take up the position at the end of last year which has left us without anybody in the top job until May."

Councillor Fox said it was not a resignation issue.

He added, "Leadership means being there in the tough times as well as the good. If things have gone wrong on this watch they will be put right on this watch.

"We've already started to tackle the issues raised in the inspection and we have dealt with a number of the concerns that Estyn raise.

"We have appointed a new director to lead the education service who starts work with us soon, and in the meantime we have engaged a strong interim management team to lead the service and to tackle issues identified.

"Whilst we do not underestimate the challenges ahead, we are confident that our education service will continue to improve."

Councillor Hacket Pain said, "We will now work closely with the Welsh Government to develop and implement our action plan so that we can bring about the rapid improvements that we agree are necessary.

"Outstanding education is vital for Monmouthshire and is one of our three key priorities and this will continue to be the case."