THE Then India Sanmarga Ikya (TISI) Sangam Fiji has expressed its support of the call by the Catholic Church to appoint its own heads of schools.
In a statement, TISI Sangam national president Sadasivan Naicker said the call by the Catholic Church needed to be heard because there were others who wanted the same.
He said while religious organisations continued to maintain their commitment to education, consultation with the Ministry of Education was an important aspect of the development of the sector.
“TISI Sangam has always maintained that consultation by the MOE with the school management on heads of schools is important to promote the educational visions for Fiji,” he said.
“Heads of schools appointed to community-operated schools need to be familiar or well versed with the foundation values and vision of the schools.
“TISI Sangam, therefore, joins all the stakeholders who manage the schools in Fiji and calls on the Ministry of Education to consult the controlling authorities of the schools before appointing and finalising the position of school heads.”
Mr Naicker highlighted the rich history that TISI Sangam Fiji has had towards the growth of the education sector in the country.
“As a multi faith-based and socio-educational, cultural and religious organisation, TISI Sangam fully supports the Catholic Church in its call for Catholics to be appointed as the heads of their schools.
“TISI Sangam has operated as a socio-educational, cultural and religious organisation since 1926.
“Today, provision of education remains our core occupation and we currently own and manage numerous pre-school centres, 21 primary, five high schools and a tertiary institution (the Sangam College for Nursing).
“While our schools are open to students of all religious faiths and backgrounds, maintaining the identity and ethos of the visions of Sadhu Kuppuswamy and Sangam is a defining feature of our schools.
“Since the establishment of our first school, we have always embraced diversity and open to all who seek the values of attending a Sangam school.”
