Government will cancel prisoner Sharina Anne Tuzo's proposed Bermuda College course if she is scheduled to share a class with the mother of the baby she was convicted of killing, it emerged last night.

The Royal Gazette revealed yesterday that Roshea Young Lewis was horrified to find out that Tuzo, who is serving a six-year sentence for the manslaughter of Ms Young Lewis' five-month-old son Saed, is enrolled in the same nursing course.

She said she was so appalled by the prospect of facing Tuzo in the classroom that she may study overseas rather than in Bermuda.

But last night Labour and Home Affairs Permanent Secretary Robert Horton said Tuzo will not be allowed to take the course - which Government is funding - if it will mean the two women meeting at college.

And Home Affairs Minister Terry Lister has asked for a report from Prison Commissioner John Prescod to find out what steps his office took to ensure that Tuzo and Ms Young Lewis would not meet at the college.

Tuzo was convicted of the manslaughter of Saed in 1999 after a jury decided she knew her boyfriend Jermaine Pearman - who was jailed for 12 years - was savagely beating the child while they were supposed to be looking after him, yet did nothing about it.

In a letter to Ms Young Lewis, published in yesterday's Royal Gazette, Tuzo admitted she "turned a blind eye" to the attacks on Saed and that the baby would be alive today if she had sought medical help or taken him away from the house in Sandys where the beatings took place over a ten-day period.

Tuzo now wants to study to be a paediatric nurse, working with children, and Government agreed to fund her studies. Mr. Horton said yesterday that the education coordinator within the Correctional Department approved Tuzo to study nursing.

The 1997 Nursing Act indicates Tuzo would not be allowed to work in Bermuda because candidates for the professional nursing register must be "of good character".

But Mr. Horton said the Nursing Council, which registers nurses, might still approve Tuzo if it considered she was rehabilitated, and he insisted funding the killer to train as a nurse was not "money wasted".

Reacting to the news that Tuzo could be pulled from the course, Ms Young Lewis told The Royal Gazette last night: "I am wonderfully happy. People have been stopping me in the street today and telling me its not right what was happening.

"But I will be doing my course in Bermuda. I said to myself, `I am going to go, I am not going to let her take that away from me'."

Mr. Horton said yesterday: "We knew she (Tuzo) was taking the college programme and she was deemed to be suitable and deserving.

"What we did not know, until Ms Young Lewis expressed her concern, was that she wanted to do the same programme. At that juncture, the Minister asked to see what on earth was going on. We are not insensitive to the concerns expressed by Ms Young Lewis and therefore we are taking every measure to ensure that their paths do not cross at college.

"If we find out it is inevitable they will meet at college, we will deny Ms Tuzo the opportunity to take that programme because our first concern is with Ms Young Lewis.

"The Corrections Department has been asked to do a report at the Minister's request into the education opportunities offered to Ms Tuzo."

Mr. Horton continued: "The report will be to see what steps were taken to ensure these two young women don't end up in the same class.

"Notwithstanding the provisions in the (Nursing) Act, we don't believe that that would cause us to deny an inmate the opportunity to pursue an educational programme.

"Because an act of parliament says a person has to be of exemplary character, such organisations (the Nursing Council) look at the fact that a person has been rehabilitated.

"We believe that these organisations look carefully at the nature of the offence and the individual's life subsequently. We don't believe that that would be money wasted because it would contribute to the inmate's rehabilitation."

He added: "All courses are appropriately vetted and the inmate's suitability is considered by a department within the prison.

"We always encourage inmates to work to upgrade themselves in an academic or vocational area and we do what we can to assist in the hope that when they return to normal society they will be gainfully employed.

"We have done nothing to dissuade her (Tuzo) studying in that particular area. We have not been advised it is inappropriate for her to take such a programme.

"She is receiving counselling from the prison psychologist on a regular basis and issues of appropriateness are something that would be addressed by the prison psychologist."

Mr. Prescod said yesterday he had not called Ms Young Lewis himself about Tuzo's course, but the prison psychologist had interviewed her and he was awaiting a report which he would send to Mr. Lister.

"She was interviewed to see if we could resolve her fears," he said.

He said the prison would try to reschedule Tuzo's college visits so they would not clash with Ms Young Lewis' classes.

"What we don't want to have is any serious fright as a result of what we are trying to do, for the victim to be exposed to something she's not prepared for.

"Still what would be ideal is a meeting between the victim and offender."

He said it was possible the two would meet on the streets of Bermuda at some stage because it was a small place and so it would make sense to prepare for it.

"We will try to ensure there is not a meeting between the two which creates offence on either side."

Mr. Prescod said he had not looked into whether it was suitable for Tuzo to be studying nursing.

He said: "We will take it step by step."