CHILDREN in Halesowen are having their fingerprints taken for a new £23k biometric school dinner scheme.

Windsor High School has insisted the biometric ‘kiddyprinting’ is not out of the ordinary but parents have complained the measure is another sign of a ‘Big Brother’ society.

The cashless school dinner system allows parents and the school to check children are eating healthy meals and prevents them spending their dinner money at the local chip shop.

The new system cost £23,000 to install but the school received a Government grant to cover half the costs. Concerned parent Heloise Morgan has demanded all evidence of her child’s fingerprint be destroyed.

She said: “Where is it all going to end? If we have come to the stage when children think it is normal to give their fingerprints to get school dinners then the world surely has gone mad.”

And the worried parent claims promises about data security are not cast-iron guarantees. She added: “How can anyone promise that data is safe in this day and age with so many examples of databases being lost or stolen?

“There is a bit of the Big Brother about this and I do not want my child’s fingerprint or personal information on any database which could be used by other agencies in the future.”

Mrs Morgan is annoyed parents were given an ‘opt out’ form instead of an ‘opt in’ form which she believes would have resulted in a lower uptake.

“I know I am not the only parent to demand their child’s fingerprint information be removed.”

However, Windsor High School headteacher Keith Sorrell claimed there was nothing out of the ordinary with the new scheme and it had the backing of the majority of parents.

He said:“This is a Government-backed initiative and will help the school with our healthy eating policy.

“Parents will be able to know that their children are eating healthy and they are not spending their dinner money at the local shops on chocolate or chips.”

The cashless dinner system, which went live this week, is part of an £100,000 investment in Windsor High School’s dining facilities.

He added: “All the information will be covered by data protection issues and the system will be very secure. We have spoken to parents about the system and they are overwhelmingly behind it and we have only had a handful of complaints from parents.”

Three borough schools are using the biometric system – Windsor High, Pedmore Community College, Stourbridge, and Thorns Community College, Quarry Bank.

A Dudley Council spokesman said: “The optional biometric or card system, which is used by schools nationally, has already proven popular with parents and pupils at three schools in the borough, for tracking and encouraging children’s healthy eating in schools.”