Disc containing details of 11,500 teachers has been 'lost in the post'
The data was stored on an encrypted disc
A disc containing the names and addresses of almost 11,500 teachers has been lost in the post, it emerged last night.
While the disc contained no financial information, it included images of some teachers' signatures, as well as email and school addresses.
The details were lost as they were being transported to the offices of the General Teaching Council in Birmingham earlier this month.
The GTC, which holds a register of all teachers eligible to work in English schools, last night issued an apology and insisted the incident was being treated with 'utmost seriousness'.
The encrypted disc contains details of 11,423 teachers who filled in a form updating their registration details. It failed to arrive despite being sent via Parcelforce's full tracking service from offices in Rotherham by Atos Origin, a private firm hired by the GTC to carry out data processing.
In a statement, the GTC, which has powers to strike teachers off for incompetence or inappropriate behaviour, said a full search of Parcelforce's vehicles and premises failed to uncover the disk but 'all the evidence available to us suggests that it is still mislaid within the courier system'.
All teachers involved had been notified in writing, it said.
The blunder comes hard on the heels of high-profile data loss scandals that have rattled public trust in the authorities' ability to keep personal information secret and intensified concern over the proposed national identity card scheme.
Last night Dr Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, said: 'There needs to be a review across Government of where data is kept, who keeps it and how information is transferred. This puts into doubt any information that would be held on the ID card scheme.'
