Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Question 117: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills the position regarding the report card templates drawn up by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment; if she has issued a circular requiring all schools to use these cards, particularly when a student transfers from primary to secondary school; her views regarding the use of these report cards and the obligations arising from the Data Protection Acts 1988 and 2003; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2191/11]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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The report card templates developed by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment are available for schools to use and they provide a useful mechanism for schools to report to parents on the progress of their children.

Circular Letter 0138/2006 requires schools to ensure that standardised testing is implemented on an annual basis in English Reading and Mathematics at the end of first class OR the beginning of second class, AND at the end of fourth class OR the beginning of fifth class. This circular advises schools that the results of testing should be reported to parents in respect of their children in accordance with the reporting templates which were then being piloted by the NCCA. There is no requirement in the circular to pass the report card to a second level school when the pupil transfers.

Section 22 of the Education Act 1998 requires the principal and teachers of a school to regularly evaluate students and periodically report the results to parents. The Data Protection Acts 1998 to 2003, which cover both electronic data and information held in manual form, generally require that personal data may be shared with other parties only for the specific purpose for which it was gathered, and generally only with legal cover or consent.

Section 28 of the Education Welfare Act, 2000 enables the data controller of a prescribed body to share personal data with another prescribed body for a relevant purpose. This includes recording a person's education or training history or monitoring his/her progress for the purpose of determining how best he/she can be assisted. SI 639/2005 prescribes the bodies which may share information as being the Minister for Education and Science, the National Council for Special Education, the National Educational Welfare Board, and any recognised school or centre for education. Schools may therefore share information with other schools or centres for the purpose of monitoring students' educational progress and catering for their educational needs.

Page 80 of Assessment in the Primary School Curriculum - Guidelines for Schools, which issued to all primary teachers at the end of 2007 sets out information on Data Protection and the sharing of assessment information with other parties.