BELFAST Royal Academy says CCTV in the main pupil toilet facilities has been installed on a 'precautionary' basis.
As pupils returned to school this week, images emerged of the cameras visible in the toilets of the Cliftonville Road school.
Shocked parents took to social media to vent their disgust and anger at the images, which has led to the school emailing all parents on Wednesday morning.
"As a parent of a child in BRA I’m genuinely appalled by this," one said.
"Parents should have been consulted about this. A step too far in my opinion," another said.
Others said the CCTV has been installed to prevent issues associated with anti-social behaviour in the toilets.
"The CCTV is there to prevent vandalism, anti-social behaviour and things like drug taking," one woman posted.
In the email by Principal Hilary Woods, she explains that the CCTV system in the toilets has not yet been activated.
"We have had a CCTV system in Belfast Royal Academy for more than five years. The system helps us to protect school property and provide a safe and secure environment for pupils, parents, staff, and visitors," she explained.
"Over the course of the summer and in line with good maintenance practice, we took the opportunity to upgrade the system and review the number and positioning of individual cameras.
"As a result of this upgrade and review, it was decided that it would be prudent to install the technical infrastructure needed to allow the school to extend the coverage of the CCTV system to areas where we have had isolated incidents in the past, including the main pupil toilet facilities.
"Installation of the underlying technical infrastructure has now been completed, but it has not been commissioned and it has not been activated.
"The school currently has no plans to activate the infrastructure in the main toilet facilities and it has only been installed on a precautionary basis.
"In addition, it is important for pupils, parents, staff, and visitors to note that if a decision was taken by the school at some point in the future to activate the new infrastructure and make the cameras in the toilets operational, then this decision would only be taken after appropriate consultation with the wider school community and in line with all relevant guidance and legislation, including the Data Protection Act 2018 and the General Data Protection Regulation 2016.
"An impact assessment of the proposed use of the CCTV cameras would be undertaken by the school at that time and all stakeholders would be notified of the potential activation of the cameras.
"Our updated policy on the use of CCTV cameras will be available on our school website following ratification by the Board of Governors."
Koulla Yiasouma, the Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People urged BRA to reconsider the use of the equipment.
“I was surprised and very concerned to hear reports of the installation of CCTV in toilets at Belfast Royal Academy," she said.
"The use of surveillance equipment in places where it is reasonable to expect privacy, such as toilets and changing rooms, should only be used as a very last resort after all other options have been thoroughly explored.
"It is also very important that schools undertake a full consultation with pupils and parents when this and other similar developments are being considered so that their views and interests can be taken into account.
"Whilst I would expect this to happen prior to any ‘infrastructure’ being installed, active or not, I am pleased BRA has confirmed that consideration to commissioning the cameras in “private” spaces will only be made following the completion of such consultation processes.”
