LAHORE: The Punjab government has formally approved the handing over of administrative control of four nationalised missionary schools in the province to the Catholic and Presbyterian churches.
Of these, two schools are situated in Lahore and one each in Rawalpindi and Sialkot districts.
“I believe it’s the most important decision in the history of Pakistan. For the past 50 years, church leaders have been engaged in litigations and approached government departments to reclaim these properties worth billions of rupees. It’s good news for all Christians in Pakistan,” Punjab Minister for Human Rights and Minorities Affairs Ijaz Alam Augustine told a press conference.
Citing sources in the School Education Department (SED), Kross Konnection reported the administrative control of the Govt Saint Francis High School in Anarkali neighbourhood of Lahore would be handed back to the Catholic Church while the other three schools — Govt Rang Mahal Christian High School in Shah Alam Road neighbourhood of Lahore, Govt Christian Higher Secondary School in Raja Bazar neighbourhood of Rawalpindi, and Govt Christian Girls High School on Haji Pura Road in Sialkot — would be handed back to the Presbyterian Church of Pakistan (PCP).
They said the missions would be independent to manage administrative affairs of the schools and could hire new teachers. As per the agreement, government teachers in these schools would continue to get their salaries from the public exchequer while new teachers would be compensated by the church authorities.
Punjab Secretary Schools Ghulam Farid said that only administrative control of the four schools would be handed over to the church missions.
He said it was a suitable solution as many public schools were already being operated under public-private partnerships in the province through the Punjab Education Initiatives Management Authority (PEIMA).
But Minister Augustine refuted the statement.
“The status is different for two schools. The land of St. Francis School belongs to the Punjab government. Only its administration can be handed over. However, the PCP owns the Rang Mahal School property. Previous governments failed the Christian community on this decades-old demand,” he told Kross Konnection.
PCP Executive Secretary Reverend Majid Abel welcomed the cabinet’s decision.
“Finally we are getting hold of our three schools. It is high time that the provincial government practically hands over the schools to the church,” he said.
Returning these schools to the church missions was the last agenda item in a meeting of the cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Usman Buzdar on March 21.
