Last updated at 1:09 AM on 21st July 2009
A school has installed nearly 100 security cameras to monitor classrooms, corridors and play areas, it emerged yesterday.
The £60,000-a-year surveillance system at Stockwell Park High is believed to be the most extensive in a school.
Cameras also film lessons to help staff improve their technique and may be used to expose poor teaching.
The comprehensive intends to kit out every classroom with the technology because staff say it helps tackle truancy, indiscipline and false allegations against them.
Teachers' leaders last night warned against using the 'Big Brotherish' system.
Almost 100 schools have introduced similar in- class cameras while a quarter use some kind of CCTV, mainly for security reasons. But the average number of classrooms fitted with the technology is five, while Stockwell Park High, in South London, has two cameras in 28 classrooms - 56 in total.
In addition there are 40 cameras in corridors, stairwells and outdoor areas.
The school began by training CCTV cameras on its perimeter fences to deter intruders and then put them in classrooms to prevent damage to costly whiteboards.
Now it is taking advantage of major renovation work to install the hi-tech Classwatch system - which promises digital sound and images ' admissible in a court of law'.
The 985-pupil school, which serves disadvantaged areas, was rated 'outstanding' by Ofsted in 2006 with pupil behaviour described as 'good' and attendance 'satisfactory and improving'. It said the cameras were intended to help deal with 'rare' incidents and act as a deterrent to misbehaviour rather than tackle a particular problem.
However the use of cameras to identify and punish children who disrupt lessons and indulge in classroom pranks is not without controversy.
Security: The south London school intends to put the technology in every classroom as staff say it helps tackle truancy and false allegations against them
One primary school was criticised for using surveillance equipment to identify an eight-year-old girl who hid her friend's shoes.
Stockwell Park headmistress Judette Tapper said: 'We are very mindful of students' and parents' sensitivities.
'The system gives teachers a real sense of security and reassurance in the case of the rare disciplinary incidents in which a student disputes the teacher's account of events. It also helps to combat bullying and aggressive behaviour.
'We are finding the system is a useful tool in investigating and discouraging truancy.' Footage is stored for one month then destroyed. Access is strictly controlled and monitored by a member of the school's board of governors.
But Dr Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, said: 'This all sounds very Big Brotherish.
'Schools should not have to resort to technology to fight bullying and bad behaviour. 'CCTV can be useful to monitor outside areas and may help cut down on vandalism, but we have grave concerns about using it as panacea for all the problems a school faces.'
Pupil Daniel Bryan said: 'Cameras can be useful but they are an invasion of your privacy and sometimes they make me feel uncomfortable.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1201045/The-school-100-spy-cameras-Big-Brother-watches-pupils-everywhere.html
1 comment:
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The information is quite interesting regarding the sic semper tyrannis.
These spy equipment are generally used by the American government in all the fields like school, colleges and even in the medical fields to give the security for the citizens of the country.
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