Kivalliq (Feb 23/05) - It may not be easy for print publications to highlight the accomplishments of Nunavut students next year if a policy being implemented by the Department of Education doesn't go as planned.

The government is requiring all students to have a signed permission slip from their parents or guardian before their photo can appear in the local newspaper.

Assistant deputy minister Peter Geikie said the policy is not aimed at the media, even though the possibility exists for it to be directly affected by it.

He said the policy is simply to allow a student's family to be aware their child's photo may appear in the paper.

"With all the concern folks are having these days around minors and their pictures appearing on places like the Web, the policy is so mom and dad are aware of what's happening," said Geikie.

"We are using a simple form, usually sent home by the school, informing parents that a child's picture is going to be in the paper and asking if they're OK with it"

The department is recommending that, beginning next year, the forms go out to all the homes at the beginning of the school year.

Geikie said the idea is to have consistency in all Nunavut schools and for the media to be aware of what has to happen when taking photos.

"Say, for example, you wanted to take some photos during the science fair. The principal of the host school could send home a little news article stating that photos will probably appear in the next edition of the paper.

"We don't want this to act as a deterrent to media coverage of school events because we appreciate the good news coverage we receive.

"Those are things we want parents and communities to be aware of."

Geikie said if a parent says no to having their child's picture published, it would be up to the media person to contact the school and ensure they don't use a photo of that child.

He said the department's intent is not to have the policy affect evening sessions, such as tournaments.

"The policy is aimed more at what's going on in the schools from Monday to Friday in their day-to-day operations.

"There would be no problem with school staff taking photos and submitting them to a publication, because they'd know of any students whose parents wrote no on the permission slip."