The Ministry of Education regrets the statements of some MPs concerning the collection of personal data of students and parents and condemns the misinformation of people and the tendentious interpretations that can lead to the unjustified discrediting of reforms in education, Deputy Minister of Education Igor Grosu said in a news conference, quoted by IPN.

Igor Grosu stated that the Ministry of Education is close to finalizing the Education Information System whose goal is to identify the children who abandon school, children in risky situations and those with special educational needs. The data stored in the Education Information System are already contained in the documentation of every education institution. The data until now were collected on paper, but their inclusion in an information system ensures better protection and quicker processing.

“We specify, including for some of the MPs, that the Education Information System includes only the identification numbers of students, not yet of parents. The identification numbers of students are needed for issuing education certificates and have been collected since 2007. The information collected about parents includes only the phone number and if one of the parents is unemployed or is abroad. Consequently, the assertions that these data are collected for other purposes rather than for ensuring efficient management are revolting,” said the deputy minister.

He added that the Ministry of Education drafted and is now registering the personal data protection policy. The persons involved in the digitization of data signed a statement pledging not to reveal the personal data. The necessity of including the data in the Education Information System is also provided in the draft Education Code.

Igor Grosu underlined that the Ministry of Education condemns the politicization of other purely technical aspects, such as the setting of exams for ninth graders. The ninth graders take three secondary school graduation exams – the language of study, mathematics, while the third exam changes usually once in two years. During the last two examination session, the third exam was History of Romanians, while in 2014 will be the foreign language.

On December 10, Liberal MPs accused the Ministry of Education of collecting the personal data of students and parents through questionnaires that are filled out by students at the Ministry’s instruction. They said the collection of personal data is aimed at rigging the elections of 2014.