TISI Sangam National President, Sadasivan Naicker [Source: Sangam Fiji]

The TISI Sangam says the Ministry of Education needs to consult the controlling authorities of the schools before appointing and finalizing the position of school heads.

This call comes after the head of the Catholic Church in Fiji, Archbishop Father Peter Loy Chong appealed to the Ministry that its schools should have principals and head teachers of the same faith.

The Education Ministry says through its Open Merit System, it will appoint capable people to all faith based schools and if school owners did not like this, they should consider becoming private.

TISI Sangam National President, Sadasivan Naicker in a statement says the call by the Catholic Church is also what TISI Sangam Fiji wants.

He says while their schools are open to students of all faiths and backgrounds, the ethos of the visions of Sangam is a defining feature of their schools.

TISI Sangam says consultation by the Ministry with the school management on the issues is important to promote the educational vision for Fiji.

The Sangam institution currently owns and manages numerous pre-school centers, 21 primary, five high schools and a tertiary institution, the Sangam College for Nursing.

Other organizations such as the Fiji Muslim League, says while it had tried in the past for the appointment of schools heads of their faith, this has been unsuccessful, and they have adapted.

League President, Hafiz Khan says some of their schools are not headed by Muslim teachers as there are limitations on what they can acquire from the Education Ministry.

President of the Sanatan Dharam Pratinidhi Sabha of Fiji Sarju Prasad says there’s some weight in the issue that has been brought up by the Catholic Church.

He says there needs to be more dialogue.

The Fiji Council of Churches says it respectfully supports the views of its member churches and other faith communities on the issue.

Minister for Education Rosy Akbar is yet to comment on these latest statements.