Government reform to child protection laws cannot make schools 100 per cent safe, parents have been warned by Island MP Andrew Turner. Following scares on sex offenders teaching in schools, Education secretary Ruth Kelly has announced plans to tighten up the rules on registration with the Criminal Records Bureau.
Mr Turner said:
“I welcome Ruth Kelly’s action in the wake of recent evidence that around known 100 sex offenders are teaching in schools across the country. And I am of course very pleased to hear that there are none doing so on the Isle of Wight.
“But however much we tighten the rules, we should never believe that government action, either local or national, is a substitute for parents and headteachers exercising vigilance and good judgement. The official lists of sex offenders only record people who we know have been convicted or cautioned. We don’t have full records of all the 10,000 foreign teachers in the workforce. And even for those whose full records are available, including the 30,000 new teachers who are trained each year, no-one can say for sure that they are 100% safe. In addition, there may be sex offenders among other pupils, and I have tabled questions to the Education Secretary to ask what advice she gives on them.
“I don’t want to exaggerate the threat to children. While all sex offences are serious, some are more serious than others, and thankfully only a relatively small number even of sex offenders pose a threat to children.
“The best people to judge whether children are safe are the people who know them best – that is, their parents, teachers and local communities, and we on the Island are very fortunate to have strong and stable communities where people look out for each other and the population doesn’t turn over too rapidly.”
