School ban for sex offenders
2006-01-19 21:25
London - Britain's beleaguered education secretary Ruth Kelly on Thursday vowed to ban child sex offenders from working in schools as Prime Minister Tony Blair's planned education reforms came under fire.
Kelly's announcement that anyone convicted or cautioned for a sex offence against a child would be barred from teaching came in an emergency statement to parliament as she battled to draw a line under the long-running row and gain a firmer grip on her job.
Education is a big headache for the government, with the sex offenders furore joining Thursday's unimpressive truancy figures and statistics that revealed half of Blair's flagship city academies were among the worst schools.
The education secretary apologised to parents for the anguish caused by 12 days of uncertainty over how many sex offenders were working in schools since a newspaper revealed she cleared an offender to work as a physical education teacher.
Under-fire Kelly revealed that a total of 88 sex offenders have not been banned from working in schools but insisted she would close any loopholes.
"I deeply regret the worry and concern that has been caused to parents over the last few weeks," she said.
"I am determined to do everything I can to ease their concerns.
"It is time to overhaul the system. We need a system where child protection comes first above all other considerations.
"I have decided the most effective approach is to bar from working with children all those now convicted or cautioned for any sexual offence against a child, whether the individual is on the sex offenders' register or not."