Top officials met last week to discuss the ramifications of barring sex offenders from schools.

Last month The Royal Gazette revealed that formal talks to notify schools when a convicted sex offender, particularly a paedophile, is released had begun.

And last week Public Safety Minister Quinton Edness confirmed that Government was studying various laws pertaining to sex offenders.

Mr. Edness, Attorney General Elliott Mottley, and Prisons Commissioner Edward Dyer reportedly gathered a week ago to discuss the drafting of new legislation on the matter.

The meeting followed talks last month between the Acting Police Commissioner Jean Jacques Lemay, the Education Department's senior manager of human resources Raymond Latter, and Penny Dill, chairman of the Women's Resource Centre which is believed to have set the ball rolling.

"We discussed the concerns about screening of applicants for positions within the department and to prohibit the entry into school properties of those who are convicted paedophiles,'' Ms Dill said last month. "It was proposed that a joint initiative between the Women's Resource Centre, the Education Ministry, and Public Safety Ministry will work with the Police in the drafting of Cabinet papers to update the laws.'' Mr. Edness said: "We're making good progress on it. We're very concerned about paedophiles in the community. We're working to ensure that they don't work with children or be around children.

"We're looking at various laws. We're also looking at what can be done to help compulsive paedophiles.

"Despite recent reports to the contrary, we have a sex offenders programme in the prison that has been operating since last June.'' Mr. Edness said the review of laws regarding sex offenders was not sparked by one particular incident, such as the release of convicted child killer/rapist Chesterfield Johnson.

"We have a general concern,'' he said. "We know that there are paedophiles in the community.

"If there was a report from various people that a particular person was soliciting girls or boys, what do you do about it? We want to ensure that they are protected.'' EDUCATION ED