A policy document said to be a Government ban on Opposition MPs in schools will be rewritten, Education Minister Milton Scott promised last night.

Sen. Scott said: "I will be further elaborating on this -- I like principals to have autonomy in their own schools.'' The move came after Shadow Education Minister Tim Smith said the policy was amounted to turning schools into no-go areas for non-Government MPs.

And he threatened to lodge a complaint with the Human Rights Commission -- on the grounds it contravenes both human rights legislation and the Constitution.

But Sen. Scott denied there was any intention to leave Opposition MPs out in the cold -- just a desire to codify protocol to avoid embarrassment to anyone.

He said: "It's not meant to be exclusionary -- although some may have interpreted it that way.'' The policy document said permission to invite Opposition MPs must now always be cleared by Education Permanent Secretary Michelle Khaldun.

Mr. Smith spoke out after a directive from the Education Ministry to schools ordered principals not to invite Opposition MPs to attend or officiate at functions -- with some exceptions.

He said at the time: "I'm appalled to learn of the new policy that has been instituted by the Minister of Education.

"On the face of it, it appears petty and vindictive. But it goes much deeper and it contradicts all that the PLP Government have said in the past about democracy, fairness and transparency.

"Forbidding Members of Parliament who are not members of the governing party from attending or officiating at any and all school functions is an abuse of power and the policy should be offensive to any right-thinking Bermudian.'' Mr. Smith could not be contacted for comment on the re-think last night.

Scott to rewrite `ban' on Opposition MPs The policy -- School Community Relations 1, issued in May -- said the Minister of Education has a right of attendance at any state school function and an invitation should always be extended on formal occasions, while politicians of the ruling party may be invited to attend or officiate.

But the policy document added: "Politicians who are not members of the governing party should not be invited to attend and/or officiate at a function organised by a Government school unless they are invited in their private capacity and because of their skill or knowledge in some particular area (for example, a politician who is recognised for his involvement in dairy farming may be invited to a school presentation on food production in Bermuda).'' The document, however, makes an exception in that "all members of Parliament representing a particular parish may be invited to attend a school function if that invitation is extended to all such persons and the area concerned is considered to be relevant to the school''.

Sen. Scott said: "Under no circumstances have I ever issued a directive or instruction to anyone to prevent any member of the Opposition from participating or officiating at a school function.

"It's to establish a clear understanding of protocol so people understand protocol and to ensure due credence is given to any member of Government, Opposition or Independent. Nobody's interested in banning Opposition members from schools.

"This is to make sure when they are at schools, there's no public embarrassment to anybody concerned and that's what the procedures are for.'' The policy document added that teachers-in-charge are "agents of the Government of the day'' and not party political representatives, so should accord "due precedence'' to MPs from Government.

Mr. Smith insisted: "What a bizarre use of the word `agents'. I thought they were employees of the Government, not agents per se.

"If their goal is to take politics out of education, then they must ban all Parliamentarians from attending schools.

"This policy is really about influence peddling and is a clear abuse of power.''