Data protection compliance of schools (FOI)

Request

A

Please can you state what information the education department hold for children attending private / independent schools in Jersey relating to academic achievement, attendance and any personal files.

B

Will the education department be compliant with GDPR regulations when they are introduced?

C

If the education department will be GDPR compliant, how may a parent / guardian request any information held / processed by the education department which relates to / identifies their child?

Response

A

The Education department holds information on all pupils in order to support their teaching and learning, to monitor and report on their progress and to assess the school’s performance. The information held for children attending private schools includes name, contact details, date of birth, gender, year group, special educational needs, National Curriculum assessment results and pupil suspension (when reported to the Department). The Education department only holds individual pupil records for children attending private school where parents have provided written consent.

B

The Education department is presently compliant with the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2005.

The EU has adopted a new framework in respect of data protection which will come into force on 25 May 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Although Jersey is not a member of the EU, it will bring in its own GDPR-compliant legislation which the Education department will be compliant with when introduced.

C

The right to request your or your child’s data is already available under the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2005 and this will continue under the new law. The request can be made to any school or to the Education department who will make the necessary arrangements to provide the data.