The controversial legal notice authorising the Education Minister to request data on students is to be redrafted.

The legislation has been on hold in the wake of concerns that the government was trying to snoop on students.

It will now soon be replaced on the basis of recommendations put forward by a working group set up by the Data Protection Commissioner, Education Minister Evarist Bartolo said yesterday.

After months of disparagement, Joseph Muscat and Evarist Bartolo sounded the retreat and admitted the PN was right and they were wrong

He was reacting to a letter of complaint signed by some 2,000 parents of Church school children and presented to the data protection chief. The parents expressed concern that Legal Notice 76 would “override parental authority”.

Visiting a lifelong learning activity in Valletta yesterday, Mr Bartolo called the letter “very old news” saying all concerns had been addressed by this group.

Representatives of the University of Malta, post-secondary institutions, independent, Church and State schools were invited to take part. He said the group had met eight times and managed to address the controversial aspects of the legal notice.

“We are now evaluating the proposals put forward to the ministry, which include guidelines on its implementation, and the next step will be to publish the new legal notice.”

Mr Bartolo reiterated that the intention was to have the legal tools to identify those youths with no basic literacy skills, while having all data protection safeguards in place.

The Opposition had made a failed attempt to repeal the legal notice after it was published last March.

A few weeks later, Mr Bartolo announced it was being put on hold as he wanted to allay any lingering fears by seeking further assurances from the new data protection chief.

Before this point, the government had insisted it had followed the advice of the previous data commissioner.

The Nationalist Party said Mr Bartolo had admitted the PN had been right when it said the notice was a bad move.

The PN had immediately spoken about the dangers of the legal notice, which would have given too much power to the minister and request too many details of children and students, the party said.

Its motion to declare it null had not gone through because the Labour MPs had voted against it, saying that the Opposition’s critique was negative.

“Now, four months later, the truth is out, showing that not only was the PN not being negative, but it was right. After months of disparagement, Joseph Muscat and Evarist Bartolo sounded the retreat and admitted the PN was right and they were wrong.”

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