Ministers: 'Secret filming in the classroom is prohibited'
Pupils are not allowed to secretly film their teacher and are not allowed to distribute those images. Anyone who does, is punishable. Ministers Slob and Van Engelshoven report this in an inventory drawn up at the request of Groen Links and the PvdA.
Picture: Type tank
In recent years, various incidents have occurred in schools involving secret filming of teachers. For example, two teachers who had been admitted to their lessons without their knowledge raised the alarm in April this year in the Education Magazine. Groen Links and the PvdA asked ministers Slob and Van Engelshoven to list what is and what is not permitted in this area.
The main outcome of that assessment is that it is not allowed to secretly make recordings in class. These images may therefore not be distributed. Films and images that have been recorded with the permission of the teacher may otherwise only be distributed without permission in a closed circle (such as a closed WhatsApp group). Public dissemination, such as on the internet, is in violation of the General Data Protection Regulation and is only allowed with the consent of the perpetrator.
Libel
Finally, the images may not be 'presented in such a way as to threaten, defame, slander or insult'. In these cases, a report can be made to the police, the ministers write. They hope that schools will make it clear in a school plan or student charter, for example, 'what the boundaries are within the school and what - from a legal point of view - the consequences could be if students commit such criminal offences.'
Directors sometimes reason: cell phones are forbidden in class, so if problems arise, the teacher can blame it on himself
The latter is still too often lacking, says AObdirector Henrik de Moel. “Directors sometimes reason very simple: cell phones are forbidden in the classroom, so if problems arise, the teacher can blame it on himself. But in this way you allow teachers to compete individually. Moreover, mobile phones are sometimes also useful in class, so you don't have to ban them completely. ”
As a school, put on paper which use of mobile phones is and is not allowed, says De Moel. And what happens if a student is caught: what sanctions are there? Don't let every teacher fight the conflict themselves. ”
