SAT FEARS VIOLENCE
Originally printed at
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/_SAT_FEARS__VIOLENCE-134161178.htmlBy Kim Boodram
November 18, 2011
THE ousted principal of the Tunapuna Hindu School has been directed by her employer, the Teaching Service Commission, to report for duty on Monday.
But Sita Gajadharsingh-Nanga will not receive a warm welcome, as the Education Board of the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha (SDMS), which operates the school, does not want her to return.
In response to the Commission's decision, SDMS secretary-general Satnarayan Maharaj said, "Of course we will keep her out. Even the Commission is saying and has acknowledged that the situation is volatile.
"This means they know that her presence will cause a violent reaction from the parents. They (parents) are very upset with her and they have driven us to this point," warned Maharaj.
In a telephone interview last night, Maharaj told the Express the Education Board of the SDMS is prepared to continue to prevent Gajadharsingh-Nanga from entering the school compound, as it believes her presence could ignite violence among hundreds of parents who, he said, wanted her out of the school.
Contacted at home yesterday, Gajadharsingh-Nanga said she had not yet been contacted by the Commission and was waiting on further instructions on whether she will be allowed to address the situation publicly.
Opposition MP Patricia McIntosh, who raised the issue in Parliament on November 9, said yesterday she was in agreement with the Commission's decision.
"It is a right ruling and the Ministry must now rein in Sat Maharaj. Why is he so untouchable?"
Maharaj said the SDMS is of the view that Gajadharsingh-Nanga should have been suspended from duty while investigations continue into her claim that he instructed her to keep children of African descent out of the school.
A dispute between Gajadharsingh-Nanga and the SDMS went public when McIntosh produced a letter from the principal to the Teaching Service Commission, requesting a transfer to a Government primary school.
Gajadharsingh-Nanga claimed she was locked out of the compound last month, after her non-compliance with Maharaj's instruction to refuse admission to children of African descent to the school.
In the letter, the principal also claimed to have been instructed to remove existing pupils of African descent and to refuse to accept trainees from the On-the-Job programme who were non-Indian and non-Hindu. Maharaj later denied issuing such instructions and accused Gajadharsingh-Nanga of lying.
In a full-page advertisement in today's newspapers, the Commission stated that it has instructed the Ministry of Education to allow Gajadharsingh-Nanga to continue as head of the school until its investigations are complete.
In a media release yesterday, Maharaj stated: "The Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha has referred this latest failure by State agencies to act in the interest of over 500 children at the school to our attorneys-at-law for possible legal action against agencies who have failed to discharge their duties.
"The Education Board of the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha will move to protect our parents and children who continue to suffer because of inaction."