In a submission to an Oireachtas committee today, the Department Inspectorate said it is concerned about the over-emphasis on 'teacher-talk' in lessons and the limited use of IT equipment.
In maths, they say, the teaching is predominantly teacher-led and warn against the over-reliance on class textbooks.
However they say there are some cases of high quality teaching in the subject.
In science, the inspectors said that not all students are learning the subject in an investigative way and that the potential of IT equipment is not being fully realised.
However they said that overall, lessons are engaging for students.
They also pointed to what it called 'significant developments' which will benefit the quality of teaching of the three subjects.
