The move is supposed to make school life quicker and easier for all. For example, instead of paying for canteen lunches with swipe cards and cash, pupils would place their hands on a touch pad, which would register their identities and keep an account of their spending.

The fingerprint system is also being proposed for book borrowing in school libraries. Again, instead of swiping cards in front of a librarian, kids would swipe their prints, to speed up the borrowing process.

While this may seem a sensible idea, the Daily Mail has reported that some schools are forcing children to take part in the fingerprint programme, without asking their permission, or for their parents’ consent. A North London academy allegedly made pupils hand over their prints, though once parents complained, the school had to wipe their records.

Many people are against the move to monitor pupils’ movements, as they think it is an invasion of privacy. Others are worried that keeping such important data on school systems would be dangerous, as their security systems are not advanced enough to protect them from computer hackers.

Alex Deane, director for a campaign group called Big Brother is against fingerprinting and says the move would be “jeopardising the privacy of the students for the rest of their lives.”

What do you think of this story? Is your school adopting the fingerprinting system?

Do you think it’s an invasion of your privacy?

Leave your comments below.