iTHRE AT S are being held Over the heads of Catholic schools in Ceylon, a bishop told parents during a prizegiving at St. Benedict's College. Colombo, Ceylon.
Bishop De Saran,. auxiliary bishop of Colombo. declared: "The private schools are being hampered in every possible way and subjected to great humiliation.
A 1960 law led to a government take-over of most of Ceylon's 700 private schools,
Now there are only 48 left, most of them Catholic.
These schools took advantage of an option allowing larger schools to stay independent on condition that they no longer receive state aid or charge tuition fees. But a government White Paper on education, soon to appear, is expected to bring new restrictions.
"Threats are being held over the heads of private schools." Bishop De Saram declared, and asked: "Why this cruel treatment?"
Bishop De Saram appealed to the Ceylon government to show fairness to the private schools. "It is not eriouela to let them exist." h..7 said. "They must be given the means to carryon' the work for which they exist. Otherwise it is a most illogical way of acting."
The Bishop said that the government take-over of the assisted schools, three years ago, had been carried out with the declared aim of giving Ceylon a national system of education. "This promised national system of education has not yet come into existence, and no authoritative declaration ha been made as to whether or not the remaining private schools will be given a permanent place in the national system."