Headteacher defends fingerprinting as story sparks forum debate

The revelation last week, together with the news that CCTV was being used in several West Berkshire schools, has led some to condemn Big Brother-style surveillance.
The latest row was sparked by a parent who complained to Alan Macro (Lib Dem, Theale) that their child at Trinity School in Newbury had been fingerprinted as part of a biometric system to facilitate the school lunches system.
Last week headteacher Charlotte Wilson, said the biometrics system was used solely for the purpose of administering the account for payment and that information is not shared with any other organisations.
The system is also used at Kennet School in Thatcham.
Among the contributors to the forum debate was former police officer Ruwan Uduwerage-Perera, who said: “Schools that adopt this dubious system are, in my opinion, aiding the piecemeal erosion of the civil rights in this country, that some within this, and the past Government are progressing.
“It was stated in a 2009 article in the Guardian on this very topic: ‘It seems that in the blink of an eyelid (or iris scan), our children are losing the civil liberties and freedoms we are fighting so hard to preserve.’”
Others took the view that this is just a convenient way for schools to store data.
This week Kennet School headteacher Paul Dick weighed in to the debate.
He said: “We have a large catering operation here, as you can imagine, and cash always brings challenges. From pupils losing it, through to having to have regular vans here to collect it, it was a nuisance.
“We moved to a credit card system which worked well except that the cards often got broken or snapped, particularly if they were in the washing machine. We came across the new biometric system whereby an image of a pupil’s fingerprint (not the actual fingerprint) is stored on a database, securely in school.
“Parents can charge the pupil’s account by sending a cheque into school or there are machines where pupils can feed cash into the machines, instantly charged to their account.”
Among the contributors to the online debate was former police officer Ruwan Uduwerage-Perera, who said: “Schools that adopt this dubious system are, in my opinion, aiding the piecemeal erosion of the civil rights in this country, that some within this, and the past Government are progressing.
“It was stated in a 2009 article in the Guardian on this very topic: ‘It seems that in the blink of an eyelid (or iris scan), our children are losing the civil liberties and freedoms we are fighting so hard to preserve’.”
Others took the view that this is just a convenient way for schools to store data.