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Data Protection
Notice
Notice to Parents,
Guardians and Students aged 18 years and over, on how the
personal data of students enrolled at this post primary school
as at 30th September each year, is returned to the
Department of Education and Skills, to primarily secure teaching
posts and core funding; and how these data are processed fairly
and in compliance with the Data Protection Acts 1988 to 2003.
Introduction
For the Department
of Education and Skills to be able to allocate teaching staff
and core funding to this post primary school to meet your
child’s educational needs, the Department must collect
individual and personal data on each student enrolled in each
recognised post primary school, at 30th September
each year.
This notice sets out the details of the personal data being
collected, its purpose, what other bodies these data are shared
with and why; how the Department securely stores these data and
the Department’s retention of these data.
Purposes of
Collecting Individual Student Data
Teaching posts and
core funding are allocated to post primary schools by the
Department of Education and Skills each year, based on the
number of recognised students enrolled in each post
primary school, as at 30th September in the previous
year.
The
Department has detailed in The Rules and Programme for
Secondary Schools the criteria for a recognised
student in post primary schools. While the full set of rules is
available on the Department’s website,
www.education.ie,
examples include:
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a student meeting the minimum age
requirement for their course and that they are following
an approved course, e.g. Junior
Certificate, and
»
given Irish is a compulsory
subject for all post primary students, those students not
studying
Irish must have been granted an
exemption from Irish by the school authorities, in accordance
with criteria for granting such
exemptions.
Hence for each
post primary school to have the appropriate levels of teaching
posts and core funding to meet your child’s educational needs,
each post primary school is required to transfer individualised
date on each student enrolled in our school to the Department,
as part of what is commonly referred to as the school’s October
Return. Much of these data the school would have to assist its
management of the school, but some data schools collect
specifically for the purpose of making this return.
The core funding allocated to
schools includes provision of
English Language
Support to those students with limited or no knowledge of
English and additional resources to meet the educational needs
of children who are members of the Travelling Community.
The Department has
to meet many national and international statistical, policy and
research requirements. The Department does not use individual
data from these returns for these functions. However the
Department aggregates the individual data for these purposes as
well as assisting its wider planning functions.
How is the October
Return Made and Where and How are the Data Stored?
Post primary
schools return their data electronically through the secure
esinet network system. The data received by the Department
from post primary schools through the October Returns is stored
by the Department in its secure database, called the Post
Primary Pupil Database.
It is Departmental policy that only a small number of staff who
have a requirement to view these personal data for work purposes
can gain access to these data.
Upon receipt, the Principal Officer, Parents’ Learners’ and
Database Section of Schools’ Division becomes the data
controller for these data.
The Department of
Education and Skills is committed to
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abiding by the Data
Protection Acts 1988 to 2003,
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respecting peoples’
rights to confidentiality and for privacy, and
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keeping up to date
all data about recognised students stored on its database.
What personal data
is collected?
A list of the
specific data collected on each student and the purpose for
which each item is collected is attached for your information.
What Bodies Does
the Department Share Some of the Individual Data With?
As it is necessary
to return individualised data to the Department, the Department
uses each student’s Personal Public Service Number as a unique
identifier. As part of validating that each student returned by
post primary schools is a recognised student, the
Department transfers a limited amount of each individual
student’s personal data to the Department of Social Protection.
This includes each child’s PPS number. The legal basis for this
sharing of data is set out in Social Welfare Acts.
Sharing a limited amount of the personal data with the
Department of Social Protection is also important to:
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identify students that have
similar details. For example, a student can only be enrolled in
one
school as at 30th
September,
»
in cases where a child’s PPSN
number is not available, their individual identity can be
determined from the student
personal data together with her/his mother’s maiden name,
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identify the movement of students
between schools over their time within the education
system while allowing their course
data from different schools to be accessed for recognition
purposes.
Hence a student’s
PPS number provided through the October Returns is to provide a
unique identifier for each student and as part of validating
that each student is a recognised student.
The Department does share some of the personal data with other
State bodies. These are:
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data on students
enrolled in exam years with the State Examinations Commission to
assist its
planning for state
examinations,
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Central Statistics
Office, under the Statistics Acts to assist with the compilation
of national
statistics, and
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data on 15 years old
students, excluding their PPS number to the Educational Research
Centre to meet its research
requirements which includes some of Ireland’s international
research requirements. This
Centre subsequently liaises with post primary schools in respect
of further data it may require
on individual students to assist their research requirements.
The
Department has a data user agreement with each of these bodies,
which includes the purpose for which the body requires these
data, its storage, security and retention. Details of existing
data user agreements are available on the Department’s website
at
www.education.ie
(and search for October Returns).
Retention of
student data
The Department
retains personal data on each student up to their 25th
birthday and subject to review thereafter. Since 1991, the
Department has retained all individual data on students returned
by post primary schools via their October Return. The purpose of
this retention policy serves to trace student retention, is
important for research and policy formation as well as being an
important statistical indicator nationally and internationally.
Again aggregate and not individual data is used for these
purposes.
Individual records are also retained to meet individual requests
from former students which may require it for employment or
other purposes. The Post Primary Pupil Database is currently the
only national archive of student enrolment at post primary
schools.
The
Department is continually reviewing its retention policy for
student data in consultation with the Office of the Data
Protection Commissioner and will update its retention policy
from time to time. Any amendments will be available on the
Department’s website,
www.education.ie
Accessing Personal Information
As part of the
fair processing of these data for the October Returns by and
between post primary schools and the Department of Education and
Skills, post primary schools seek the consent from parents or
guardians of children under 18 years and directly from students
over 18 years of age.
This notice informs parents and students of the data collected
through the October Returns and its uses. No written consent is
required except in the cases of what is termed sensitive
personal data. In the case of the October Returns the Data
Protection Commissioner’s Office has advised that two data
fields fall under this category, namely 1st year
student’s medical card eligibility and membership of any student
to the Travelling Community.
Post primary school
authorities are required to gain the written consent from the
relevant parents/guardians and students before returning
individualised data on these two data fields.
If either of these data fields apply to your child, or if you
are an enrolled student and aged over 18 years and these
data fields apply to you; you are asked to complete the attached
form and return it to your post primary school, before 30th
September. This form will be retained by the post-primary school
and will be made available for inspection by authorised offices
of the Department or from the Office of the Data Protection
Commissioner.
The Department of
Education and Skills is committed to respecting the privacy and
confidentiality of all parents and guardians and their
children’s personal data and has taken all reasonable measures
to do so.
Information which the Department stores on you or your child on
its Post Primary Pupil Database is available to you. If you
would like copy of these details please write to the
Parents’ Learners and Database Section
Schools’ Division
Cornamaddy
Athlone
Co. Westmeath.
You have the right to object to the processing of your or your
child’s personal data, to block certain uses of the data and
also in the unlikely event that you identify any errors in the
data held about you or your child, you have the right to correct
such errors.
Further
information on the October returns is available on the
Department’s website at
www.education.ie
(and search for October Returns).
Personal Data
returned by Schools to the Department of Education and Skills,
as part of their October Return, and which Data the Department
of Education and Skills Shares with the Department of Social
Protection, and is returned to solely assist the Department of
Education and Skills Policy, Planning and Statistical Functions.
Personal Data Transferred to Department of Social Protection
Data
Collected on each
Student |
Purpose |
Personal Public Sector
Number
– PPSN collected for first time
in 2001/02 |
Unique identifier for each
student. |
|
Student Name |
Used to validate PPSN and
also to identify students who
have Irish Exemptions or studied Computer Studies.
Also used to contact students if consent is needed to
include them in educational surveys etc. |
|
Student Home Address |
|
Date of Birth |
There are minimum age
threshold for students following
different programmes. |
|
Gender |
Statistical analysis and to
assist with individual student
identity. |
|
Mother’s maiden name |
PPSN validation. This is
removed from the Department’s
records when confirmation of valid PPSN is received. |
Other Personal
Data Returned by Schools to the Department of Education and
Skills necessary to identify a student as a recognised student,
in accordance with the Rules and Programme for Secondary
Schools.
Data
Collected on
each Student |
Purpose |
|
Previous school details |
Used for statistical
analysis and to ensure progression
within the educational system is in accordance with the
Rules and Programme for Secondary Schools |
Programme – Junior,
Leaving,
PLC etc. |
Used to establish if a
student is following prescribed
programmes as per Rules and Programme for Secondary
Schools. For exam year students it is shared with the
State Examination Commission to assist its preparation
and organisation of State Examinations. |
|
Subjects |
|
Subject Level |
Subject being taken through
Irish |
Application for English
Language Support (first
sought in 2009/10) |
Additional resources are
provided to schools which have
children in need of English Language Support |
Data
Collected on each
Student |
Purpose |
Application for
Traveller
upport (first sought in
2009/10) |
Additional teaching
hours are provided for children who
are members of the Traveller community. Written
Consent is required by school authorities before they
can include this in their returns to the Department. |
|
Exemption from studying
Irish |
Irish is compulsory
unless a student has obtained an
exemption |
|
Whether student is a
boarder |
Necessary for school
funding considerations |
Whether student is
Repeating
Leaving Certificate |
Necessary for school
funding considerations and the
collection of Repeat Leaving Certificate fee |
|
School Roll No. |
Student must be
enrolled in a school |
|
Ab initio Indicator |
Leaving Cert student
may be doing a modern language
at Junior Cert |
|
Dispersed VTOS |
Identified if student
is following a course in this mode |
Personal Data
returned by Post Primary Schools to the Department to Assist
with the Department’s Policy, Statistical, Research and Planning
Functions only.
|
Data Collected
on each Student |
Purpose |
Country
of Birth from 2009/10
onwards in earlier years
Country of Origin |
Used
solely for statistical analysis |
Medical
Card Indicator – first
sought in 2009/10 |
To
aid the development of policy to promote social
inclusion. Written Consent is required by school
authorities before they can include this in their
returns to the Department. |
|
Reason
for Irish exemption |
Statistical
analysis |
|
Educational
attainment |
PLC
students only for statistical analysis and
development of educational policy in area of Further
Education. |
|
Date
of leaving school |
Early
school leavers only for Retention Policy and
Statistical analysis |
Schools also
identify students by reference to being an exam entrant. This
data assists the transfer of data on these students only to the
State Examinations Commission, to assist its planning of state
examinations.
Consent Form for Sensitive
Personal Data for the School’s October Return to the Department
of Education and Skills
Certain sensitive
personal data which the Department asks post-primary schools to
furnish via the “Annual Post-Primary School October
Return/Examination Entries” process requires your written
consent for your child’s school to record this information and
for the school to forward this information to the Department for
purposes as outlined in circular 0047/2010 a copy which is
available at
www.education.ie
or on request from your child’s school.
Please note that the
reference to “you” in this consent form means a parent or a
guardian of a student, or a student aged 18 years and over who
is attending a recognised post-primary school.
Please
enter the following details in
BLOCK CAPITALS
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