PRINCIPALS’ CONFERENCE: Keeping of pupil data policy ‘to be reviewed’

Education Minister Jan O’Sullivan says her department will continually review policy on keeping data on primary pupils, which it intends to hold until they reach the age of 30.

The issue has been the subject of criticism in recent weeks, with Data Protection Commissioner Helen Dixon’s office still in talks with the department.

It is planned to retain the information that is currently being gathered for a primary online database (POD) through schools until children turn 30, something the minister again acknowledged was causing anxiety.