The debate last night was opened by Opposition spokesman for education Joe Cassar, who said the legal notice was putting into the Education Minister’s hands the collection of a vast amount of data on all students attending educational institutions, including details of a sensitive nature related to personal identification.

The Employment and Training Corporation and educational authorities already had the right to collect limited statistical data for research purposes.

The legal notice, he said, went against the fundamental right to individual privacy and could lead to potential serious abuse.

The information was being collected from all private schools, Church schools and perhaps even those which do not follow the Maltese educational system such as Verdala school. The Private Schools Association had issued a statement expressing its grave concern about this notice. Dr Cassar questioned why this sensitive information, which amounted to student profiling, should go directly to the minister. What was this data going to be used for? Who would be authorised to process this information and under what regulations?

The notice orders that all the requested information, including ID card numbers, must be submitted and Dr Cassar pointed out that so far as he knew not even the police had this kind of unlimited authority and power.

If this was about giving career guidance, the minister should still ask permission from the parents. There was no need for the minister to identify each child for this purpose.

Dr Cassar quoted from an EU directive which states that personal data is not needed to obtain statistics.

Even if the intention of the minister might be genuine and well-meaning, this legal notice would not safeguard the privacy of the individual, which could not be breached.