Stockholm  - Swedish schools were criticized Thursday for widespread use of surveillance cameras inside their premises, violating personal integrity rules.

The Swedish Data Inspection Board that issued the criticism based its findings after inspecting seven randomly selected schools, saying they used surveillance cameras indiscriminately.

About one in five Swedish schools have surveillance cameras.

The decision to shut off the cameras during daytime hours was to apply country-wide, Goran Graslund, head of the board, said, citing the privacy protection law.

School principles and local politicians in cities including Stockholm and Malmo reacted coolly to the board's ruling, saying the surveillance cameras were necessary to tackle theft and vandalism.

Lotta Edholm, the politician in charge of school issues in Stockholm, said the surveillance cameras had helped boost security and said the capital would appeal the Data Inspection Board ruling.

Other school spokesman noted there was insufficient staff to monitor all sections of a school.

"We can see that theft and vandalism are reduced during daytime with indoor surveillance cameras," Mats Nilsson, head of education in Malmo, told Swedish radio news.

Malmo, the third largest city in the country, has seven high schools where the surveillance cameras have been turned off. (dpa)