The Bishops in Fiji may close the 44 primary and 19 secondary schools run by the Catholic Church if the government continues to appoint non-Catholic principals to these institutions

The relationship between the government of Fiji and the Catholic Church is often strained to say the least. On Thursday, the 17th January, Peter Loy Chong, the Archbishop of Suva, following a discussion with Rosy Akbar, the Minister for Education, threatened to close every Catholic school in the country if the government continue nominating non-Catholic principals to these schools.

The cause of the Archbishop’s displeasure was the fact that the minister for education recently nominated non-Catholic teachers to headships of the Saint-Thomas Secondary School and the Xavier High School.

Should the State ignore the request of the archbishop, and the threatened closing of Catholic schools goes ahead, the measure will gravely impact education in the country.

Fiji is composed of 322 islands. Suva is the capital and largest city and is situated on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu where the most significant part of the population of Fiji live. 53% of the population is Protestant, 28%  Hindu, 9% Catholic and 6% Muslim.

Source, photo: LaCroix