The entire school curriculum at primary and post-primary level is to be reviewed so that it reflects Ireland's expanding multi-cultural society.
With about 350 schools in 24 counties now teaching children of refugees or asylum-seekers, the review will look at how teachers can make the Irish curriculum more inclusive of children from other cultures.
The review is expected to take place throughout next year and guidelines are due to be issued to schools in December 2002. The project is being undertaken by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA), which advises the Minister for Education on curriculum changes.
While the content of the curriculum is not expected to be altered radically, the way it is delivered could change.
Teachers are likely to be encouraged not to be over-reliant on "Eurocentric" examples in their work and to use material from continents and regions where refugee children have come from, such as Africa and eastern Europe.
The review will also look at illustrations and photographs in school textbooks to see whether they fully reflect the make-up of Irish society today.
It will study the experience in Britain, where textbooks are "proofed" before they go to schools to ensure that they reflect the racial mix in Britain.
English and civic, social and political education (CSPE) are the two subjects most likely to be affected by the changes. English may be required to include more texts from Africa, for example, said an NCCA spokesman.
However, even in subjects such as maths, there may be more references to the early mathematicians from Egypt and elsewhere in the Middle East.
All asylum-seekers of schoolgoing age are entitled to free education. Up to now, the provision of education has mainly focused on giving them English lessons.
According to the NCCA, most children of asylum-seekers are either in primary or pre-school education.
Mr Stephen McCarthy, of the NCCA, said that the project would be the first systematic attempt to address the issue of the curriculum's relevance to these pupils.
However, he emphasised that the curriculum itself was not going to be changed to any great degree.
"We are looking at ways of making what is already there more relevant to society now", he said.
He said that Irish pupils would be able to learn more about other cultures, too. "We see this as a way to encourage inter-culturalism, where cultures mingle and mix."
Teachers were looking for ways to enrich the experience of pupils from others parts of the world.
Mr McCarthy continued: "These children are in front of teachers right now in classrooms, and this exercise will hopefully give them a chance to fully integrate these pupils into their schools."
He said such pupils would also learn a lot from Irish culture and that subjects such as Irish would not be altered. Irish would be very much another valid form of culture for them to learn from, he said.
The NCCA is to advertise shortly for two people to conduct the project.