THE Ministry of Education must first consult the church before it appoints a school head to lead any of their schools, says the Methodist Church in Fiji and Rotuma.
President the Rev Dr Epineri Vakadewavosa said the church was not against the open merit recruitment and selection (OMRS), system but was in strong disagreement with how the ministry had failed to consult the church.
He said the school was not owned by the Government and for this reason the church must be consulted before a head of school was posted to lead a faith-based education institution.
Dr Vakadewavosa claimed the church was disappointed and concerned with the way it had been treated this year after it was given a verbal assurance by senior executives of the ministry last year that they would consult religious organisations first before school head appointments were made.
He said the exercise must be done in order to ensure that the ethos and beliefs that faith-based schools upheld would be maintained.
“These schools are not government schools anyway where they can send any Tom, Dick or Harry to be its principal,” he said.
“For the very simple reason that they are church schools and are owned and managed by the Methodist Church in Fiji, centered in Christ with all its faith, beliefs and trust as the heart of our schools.”
