§ Sir Rhodes BoysonTo ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will seek advice on the legal status of a swipe card as a means of recording school attendance with regard to its possible use as an alibi by a juvenile criminal and the legitimacy of shifting the onus of registration from teachers to pupils.
§ Mr. ForthWe look to individual schools to ensure that, where electronic aids to pupil registration are employed, adequate safeguards are instituted to maintain the integrity of the systems. Such safeguards might include teacher supervision at swiping points and random checks of cards held by pupils. The Department will be working with the National Council for Educational Technology to evaluate the potential of information technology as a means of monitoring pupil attendance. The scope for abuse will, of course, be one of the issues that we shall be examining.