Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/292371
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 9 APRIL 2014 News 2 PN on education rules: 'remove big brother data rules' Church schools' parents' association concerned about privacy of students' data MATTHEW VELLA THE Association of Parents of Children in Church Schools has expressed concern about the a legal notice giving the education minis- ter the right to obtain personal data on students in educational institu- tion, calling into question the wide powers. Education minister Evarist Barto- lo has insisted that the legal notice, which collects all students' data relating to age, sex, ability, educa- tional attainments and other data of the persons to whom they relate, "is for research purposes". But the APCCS has insisted that the term "research purposes" is not otherwise better defined and that it can be potentially interpreted very widely. "Contrary to normal practice, when research in the field is carried out, the Legal Notice does not give room to consent to or any possibil- ity to opt-out to the persons con- cerned and their relatives. "There are no indications as to the correct use of this information and data, the assurance of anonymity, the ethical considerations involved, and other important parameters that need to be seriously consid- ered. Statistical research does not necessarily require the use of per- sonally identifiable data that is pro- tected by law," APCCS secretary Denise Bezzina said. The APCCS also said that the legal notice makes it an offence to people who do not comply with a request under the rules. "This could potentially violate both the right of privacy and also the autonomy of Church schools. The Legal Notice does not provide for any checks and balances for the use of this power. We hope this le- gal notice will be repealed in order to ensure the protection of data and information of all students in Malta and their relatives, and that control on how personal and sensitive data can be used is ensured." PN statement In a meeting with student rep- resentatives from various institu- tions, Opposition leader Simon Bu- suttil today also called on Bartolo to amend or remove the legal no- tice, which he described as the stuff of "Big Brother state laws". "It's unacceptable to have the education minister giving himself 'extraordinary powers' to spy on our children who attend any state school. If it was truly for research purposes, the information request- ed would not have been identifiable since the minister would be in pos- session of identity card numbers," Busuttil said. The Opposition leader underlined the lack of anonymity for students raised serious questions about the legal notice and that the rules breached the fundamental right to personal data protection. "The Opposition is ready to accept the government's call for discussion as long as these basic principles of data protection are respected." Busuttil met student reps from the University of Malta, MCAST and Junior College, accompanied by MPs Joe Cassar and Robert Cutajar in a meeting that continued behind closed doors. The PN's newly established branch, Equal Opportunities Fo- rum, also joined the chorus of dis- approval against the legal notice, insisting that it is "fundamentally wrong". "Our biggest concern is that the minister is being given powers to access information on particular students, placing himself above the law," the forum said. It argued that "serious research- ers" were questioning the true purpose behind accessing such in- formation since researchers them- selves to their utmost to respect confidentiality. "Parents have to understand the consequences of all this. Accessing an identity card number leads to the whole history of an individual. This matter worsens since this is about students who are the most vulnerable." The legal notice, the forum said, also placed schools with their backs against the wall as they are obliged by law not to divulge confidential information about their students. "This proposal goes against EU directives that stipulate that it's up to the parents to give consensus for information about their children to be issued." JURGEN BALZAN EDUCATION minister Evarist Bar- tolo reassured concerned academics, educators and parents that banding would not eliminate mixed abilities, but that it was necessary in the tran- sition between streaming and mixed ability grouping. Last week, a number of academics blasted government for introducing a system which would reduce inclu- sion and widen the achievement gap between students. The new policy will see all state primary schools group students by month of birth from Kindergarten 1 to Grade 4, to classify and then al- locate children in Grades 5 and 6 to classes according to banding on the basis of their results in English, Maths and Maltese. Banding is also aimed at achieving a degree of gender balance when al- locating students to different classes. However, schools will be given the freedom whether to apply the policy. While pointing out that not all edu- cators are against banding, Bartolo told MaltaToday that when streaming was removed three years ago, "mixed ability was introduced in a haste and without the necessary preparations" which meant that teachers were not ready for the challenge, giving mixed abilities education a "bad reputation". Insisting that government is not going back to streaming, because the system removed in 2011 gave ter- rible results, Bartolo said that band- ing would "be part of the transition" between streaming and mixed ability grouping. Speaking to MaltaToday, he ex- plained that banding, which already exists in certain schools, would not eliminate mixed abilities completely, but instead narrow down the spec- trum of abilities in the classroom, allowing teachers to reach out to stu- dents more effectively. "The current system is not allowing students who are performing badly to improve and neither is it helping stu- dents who are doing well to do bet- ter," Bartolo said. Bartolo added that whatever policy is introduced, "teachers will be the ones which make it happen on a daily basis". Highlighting the difficulties of mixed ability grouping since its intro- duction, the Malta Union of Teachers welcomed the decision to introduce banding in state schools. In a statement issued yesterday, MUT said that it requested clarifi- cations from the education ministry about the way banding will be imple- mented and is satisfied about the pro- cedure which will be adopted. Echoing Bartolo's comments to MaltaToday, MUT noted that a number of schools already adopted ability grouping on similar param- eters of banding. The union added that an ongoing evaluation of the system to should be carried out to ensure that all decisions are backed by evidence provided di- rectly by schools and educators, "who are ultimately facing the difficulties of mixed ability and differentiated teaching". Apart from the concerns voiced by members of the University of Malta's Faculty of Education, who shot down the policy which they described as a "differentiated form of streaming," Bartolo is facing criticism by the Nationalist Party and Alternattiva Demokratika. In an open letter sent to Bartolo last week, 27 members of the Faculty of Education said that younger students will find themselves streamed into lower bands by the time they reach Grades 5 and 6 because younger stu- dents will not benefit from peer learn- ing from their slightly older peers. The educators also pointed out that the new policy will see children from disadvantaged socio-economic back- grounds gravitate toward the lower bands. Opposition MP Joe Cassar has also voiced his disapproval, underlining a "lack of consultation" and called on government to wait until the outcome of a report it commissioned to the European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education is completed before deciding. The policy was also criticised by The Green Party, who in a strongly worded statement said that research has shown that "segregation of chil- dren, particularly at a young age, leads to labels for life; children in par- ticular streams remain in the same streams throughout their educational experience". Minister insists banding is necessary in for mixed abilities schooling