300 schools fingerprinting their pupils

The report claims only a quarter of local education authorities (LEAs) had details about the use of fingerprinting and the Government has no idea how many children have their information stored.

The information is used for a variety of purposes, including taking class registers, by school libraries and for administration.

Liberal Democrat education spokeswoman Sarah Teather urged concerned parents to write to the Government demanding "strict legislation".

She warned of the dangers of identity theft if the information was held on "insecure" school computers.

The results were compiled from a survey of every LEA in England, with additional information from Parliamentary questions.

Education Secretary Alan Johnson's constituency, Hull West and Hessle, was among the areas where pupils are fingerprinted, the Liberal Democrats said.

Ms Teather said: "These figures confirm an extremely worrying situation where schools are fingerprinting pupils without any guidance on whether it is legal to do so.

"This is happening right under Alan Johnson's nose and he still refuses to act.

"Insecure school computers holding precious unique personal information are a gift to identity thieves.

"Concerned parents should write to the Government demanding that it produces strict regulations for the use of this technology in schools.

"An awful lot of people are washing their hands of responsibility while this practice spreads unregulated."

In a Commons answer in December, Schools Minister Jim Knight said officials were working with education technology agency Becta and the Information Commissioner to update guidance on the use of fingerprints, but none has been issued.

Liberal Democrat schools spokesman Greg Mulholland has tabled a Commons motion, signed by 84 MPs, urging the Government to conduct a "full and open" consultation on the issue.

A DfES spokesman said: "It is for individual schools to decide if they wish to take and hold biometric data.

"However, schools are very experienced in dealing with data and all schools must abide by the Data Protection Act.

"They are also obliged to inform pupils, or parents where the child is too young to understand, what information they have on record and what they use it for.

"We will shortly be issuing guidance to all schools on best practice when taking, storing and disposing of data, including biometric data."