Row over sex offenders in UK schools

LONDON - A political storm triggered after a British minister admitted he had cleared a registered sex offender to work as a teacher gathered pace on Saturday after a newspaper reported a number of similar cases.

The Times said there were several instances of sex offenders working in schools despite government assurances earlier this week that such men are barred from working with children.

The report came after Kim Howells, a former junior education minister and now at the Foreign Office, said on Thursday he had cleared a man cautioned by police for viewing child pornography on the internet to work as a teacher in "good faith" after reading the file and seeking advice.

The newspaper said there had been other cases, including that of a man convicted of possessing pornographic images of young boys given permission by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) to teach, provided he worked only in girls' schools.

Another man, who admitted he was a "homosexual paedophile" with an interest in young boys was also allowed to teach, as long as he taught older pupils, the newspaper said.

A DfEs spokeswoman said the government intended to strengthen the decision making process in light of the recent revelations.

"Clearly there is a difference between decisions made by the Department and those made by an independent appeals tribunal," she said.

A government review initiated by Education Secretary Ruth Kelly into cases where registered sex offenders have been allowed to work with children is expected to find less than two dozen incidents.

The opposition Conservative education spokesman said decisions to allow sex offenders to work in schools were "extraordinary" given an official inquiry in 2004 had recommended the tightening of teacher vetting.

"One of the things I find most worrying, and I think the reason why there is this loss of confidence in Ruth Kelly, is that these cases have been going on even since the Soham murders and even since the Bichard inquiry," spokesman David Willetts told BBC radio.

The Bichard inquiry was set up after it was discovered that double child killer Ian Huntley had been given a job as a school caretaker in Soham, Cambridgeshire, despite being a suspected sex offender.

Kelly is under pressure because she has said she takes full responsibility for the decisions of her department and questions have already been raised over her ability to survive in the job, given her failure to persuade Labour parliamentarians to support controversial school reforms.

- REUTERS