A support group for parents of children with special needs has called a data breach, revealed over the weekend by the Department of Education, as “extremely concerning”.
SEN Reform NI also said that the incident has left parents feeling “further disheartened” as issues regarding special education in Northern Ireland continue to dominate their summer.
As of August 2, a total of 75 pupils were still waiting to learn which school they would be attending at the start of next month.
Earlier this year, Education Minister Paul Givan put out a distress call to primary schools in a bid to create 1,000 additional places for pupils with SEN (special educational needs).
He also announced that at least eight new special schools will be built over the next 10 years to move the sector away from the continuing “crisis management situation”.
As part of an ongoing review of the special education system, parents had been invited to register for an event to update them on progress.
However, the names, addresses and personal details of 407 people who had declared an interest were leaked in error by the department, which has left parents frustrated, angry and once again feeling let down by the authorities.
SEN Reform NI, which campaigns on behalf of parents and which took their concerns to Stormont at the start of the summer, said many of its supporters and members have been affected by the data breach.
“As parents and carers of children with disabilities and additional needs, we have welcomed the Department of Education’s end-to-end review, but this data breach is extremely concerning,” the group said.
“Personal information has not been handled responsibly, with personal details around children’s health and education being included.
“This has unfortunately left many parents feeling further disheartened with SEN education in Northern Ireland, at a time we had hoped for improvements.”
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The Department of Education said it is investigating the data leak after a spreadsheet, including names, email addresses and titles of individuals, was sent in error to 174 people.
Those 174 recipients of the leaked spreadsheet, which also included comments made by a number of individuals, have been asked to delete the information and to confirm they have done so.
Mr Givan said his department is investigating the circumstances surrounding the data breach on Thursday and apologised to all affected.
“The department takes its responsibilities around data protection extremely seriously and we unreservedly apologise to all those affected, as this should not have happened,” he said.
“The individuals involved have been contacted to make them aware of the data breach.”
Mr Givan said he has instructed his permanent secretary to launch a full and thorough investigation into the data breach, which will be led by internal audit.
“In parallel, the department will be working to put in place measures to help make sure this does not happen again,” Mr Givan said.
“An initial notification has been made to the office of the Information Commissioner regarding the data breach and the department will continue to engage with them as they conduct their investigation.
“As our investigation continues, all those impacted, as well as the Information Commissioner’s Office, will be kept updated.”