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The Connexions Card A controversial element of the Connexions scheme is the smart card which is given to all young people who participate in it. There is more to this card than meets the eye. Here is an excerpt from a leaflet given out to young people to persuade them to sign up for their Connexions Card: "This initial distribution of the Connexions Card is only the first stage of the largest smartcard project in Europe. There is potential to add many other applications and online services. "In time. you may be able to use your card as an 'e-purse' for expenses such as cashless catering and bus and train fares; or for security purposes to give you controlled access to buildings; or even as a health card containing vital medical details." Currently, 'points' are given to young people for such things as attendance and attainment, which can then be used to obtain discounts on products aimed at young people. Participants register on a website, which creates a profile of the consumer preferences of each young person by monitoring the pages they view, thus enabling companies to target their advertising accurately. Young people may opt out of this monitoring, but a spokesperson for Capita, the company awarded the £100m contract for the scheme by the government, warns that this may lead to the loss of discounts. (TES FEFocus 20/6/01 - Students are Targets in Connexions Selling War) Capita offers schools and colleges £1 for every student name, address and digital photograph that they supply to the Connexions Card service. They say that this is to cover the administrative costs of supplying the information, although the letter sent to colleges is headed "incentivise your students and get paid!" In that letter, Capita points out that 4,000 student names would net a college £4,000 and suggests that the collection of details could be linked to the enrolment process. It is suggested to Connexions Personal Advisers that they should promote the discount and other benefits of receiving a Connexions Card, as an incentive to consent to 'engagement' with the Connexions process for young people who are proving difficult or unwilling to engage. When asked on Radio 5 how long data would be held on the Connexions Card database, a spokesperson said that she 'didn't know'. Capita is also responsible for the infamous Criminal Records Bureau database, the Individual Learning Account database that collapsed in disarray, the disastrous Lambeth Council benefits database - and the collection of PLASC Schools Census information from school computers. It's worth asking whether a scheme which provides consumer incentives to young people, rather than getting to grips with the underlying problems within the education system which discourage them from learning, is congruent with any notion of a 'right to education'. |