Press Release

Statement on real-time reporting

9 January 2008

The  Professional Association of Teachers (PAT) has commented on the Government's plans for real-time reporting to be announced on Wednesday 9 January 2008.

PAT General Secretary Philip Parkin said: "There has to be an appropriate balance between providing information to parents and allowing remote Big Brother style monitoring of everything a child does at school.  Personal contact must not be replaced by cold, electronic data.

"We welcome greater involvement and interest by parents in their children's education, but, even if the equipment is made available, the Government seems to be assuming that all parents are computer literate, have English as their first language, and have the time, inclination and ability to access and interpret often complex data. 

"There are also complex data security issues to be addressed in allowing access to school systems, particularly in light of recent losses of government-held data.

"We are pleased that heads will not be required to implement such systems, but there will clearly be government pressure to do so followed by parental expectation. There is a real danger of overburdening schools and school staff and allowing their focus to move away from education to providing statistics.

"PAT will contribute to consultations on this issue."