Ruth Kelly has rejected claims that more sex offenders are working in schools than the government has admitted.
Newspaper reports on Friday suggested that 150 sex offenders are working in English schools.
But in a Commons statement on Thursday, the education secretary said records had identified 88 people with cautions or convictions for sex offences who had not been banned from classrooms.
The larger figure comes from the 210 cases where teachers received only a partial ban from working in schools.
But suggestions that most were now working with children were wrong, Kelly told BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Friday.
"I was asked how many decisions were taken by ministers of people on the sex offenders register - there were 10, none working in schools," she said.
"Take the others, because I went much further than was asked and looked at all the decisions taken by officials and all the decisions about cases which would today have been put on the sex offenders register but given cautions or convictions before the introduction of the register couldn't be placed. That identified another 46 cases."
Those cases were being investigated by the police and only one individual had been found working in education, but was of no cause for concern.
"The idea that there are all these people out there working in schools is just wrong," added Kelly.
Dods Parliamentary Communications Ltd