Kilmarnock school pupils will pay for meals with new fingerprint system

May 22 2009 by Stef Lach, Kilmarnock Standard

SCHOOL pupils in Kilmarnock will soon be able to pay for their meals using a new high-tech fingerprint scanning payment system.

East Ayrshire Council is to introduce the system at the new campuses at Grange and St Joseph’s Academies, ending the need for school pupils to hand over cash when buying their school dinners.

As well as saving time in the queue by removing the need to count out money and change, the new system will make it impossible for pupils to know who is paying for the meal and who is receiving it for free.

Parents can credit pupils’ accounts with cash on a daily or weekly basis. There will then be a number of ways that the young people will be recognised at the counter so their account can be debited against what they buy.

Families can choose between a biometric finger scan, photo recognition or a simple pin number. Secondary school pupils also have the option of using the National Entitlement Card.

The biometric finger scan is similar to the system used at Walt Disney World to make sure that tickets are used by the same person every day.

When the finger is scanned, the image is converted into a mathematical code called a template. The template records certain features of the finger surface and cannot be converted back into the original image.

Once a pupil leaves school, this template is obliterated.

Councillor Iain Linton said: “The new system is being introduced in June to ensure that everything is in place for the new term in August. Letters will soon be going out to parents with more detailed information on how to opt in, or out, of the new system.

“The cashless meals system offers many benefits – not least a faster service, a reduction in stigma for free meal children and access for parents to details of what their child has eaten. I would urge parents to opt in.”