The Education Ministry has been forced to turn down operators of two child enrichment programmes requests for use of its facilities.

Both The Learning Centre of Bermuda, which tutors children with learning disabilities, and the Coalition for the Protection of Children, which runs a peer mediation programme in nine schools to help students manage anger and conflict, approached the Ministry for help in securing space.

The centre was eyeing the old Woodlands School for special students on Mount Hill, Pembroke.

Peter Carey, assistant director of the centre -- which lost its $24,000 Government grant this year -- said the centre needed to move from its present Victoria Street location to "better'' rental space.

"Ideally we wanted the Ministry of Education to provide space in one of their buildings,'' Mr. Carey said. "At first when they dropped our grant, they were open to it. And when we had business people call, they said they were committed.

"Woodlands School, where Government has its time-out programme, would have been suitable. But they are not open to that.'' Stressing that he was not interested in finger pointing, Mr. Carey said the Ministry could not be everything to everybody, and needed to adopt a more collaborative approach.

"Ideally children can attend our programme for three months and when they are stabilised, they can return to regular schools,'' he said, adding that the centre was continuing to work with smaller numbers of children and planning to have more interaction with more families in the fall.

But Education Permanent Secretary Marion Robinson said all of the limited space at Woodlands was being used for the Ministry's Learning Support Centre and some Northlands Secondary School programmes.

Northlands has relocated a few of its programmes, including drama classes, to the nearby Mount Hill site.

Dr. Robinson also noted that Woodlands only had room for some 35 students when it was one of Government's special schools.

She said The Learning Centre was not the only private organisation to approach the Ministry about securing a site or for funds.

"The Coalition for Protection of Children have made the same request,'' Dr.

Robinson said. "The amount of funding that we could give them was limited. We just do not have funds.'' Centre bids for space more flexibility in terms of buildings by moving to the former US Base in St.

David's.

But the move had been delayed due to the need for repairs to the Base buildings.

Dr. Robinson also pointed out that the buildings occupied by the Education Ministry belonged to Works and Engineering, not the Education Ministry.

When contacted yesterday about the delay in the Education Ministry's move to the base, Finance Minister Grant Gibbons said the two buildings which Government had targeted required internal renovations.

While noting that he could not give an estimate on the cost of renovations nor a timeframe for the work, Dr. Gibbons said: "It is a capital project and some costs and Planning talks are involved.'' Even if approved by Cabinet, the move would not take place within the next three months, he said.