Mount Carmel Preschool Denied License Due to Failure to Meet Requirements

Patrick Faber

Mount Carmel Preschool has failed to receive its license from the Ministry of Education. The school reportedly has sixty students on its enrollment list and the management is concerned that if it does not receive its license it will not be able to open its doors to the children in the new school year. The District Education Council made a site visit earlier this year and according to Minister of Education Patrick Faber the school failed to meet the requirements to operate as an educational institution. Faber says that the local assistant manager for the Roman Catholic Church has failed to work with the ministry to meet the requirements.

Patrick Faber, Minister of Education 

“My information tells me that as early as January this year the District Education Council looked at that application and did a site visit and informed the management that in fact the premises for the preschool was not adequate and as a result they needed to do certain things included addressing the situation of a bathroom that was quite a bit away from the main premises where they want to put the children. So there are certain guideless that must be followed. To date the school has not complied with these things and that is the reason why the license has not been granted. We do have a problem and I am going to signal this loud and clear without mincing any words, Deacon Cal of the Roman Catholic Church in that area has long tried to operate and do things his own way. In fact this is one of the areas where my officers from the district informed that they have said to Deacon Cal repeatedly what needs to be done here and he has absolutely refused to get it done. The ministry cannot step in on these matters because it is the district council which is a representative body of stakeholders, what is happening now and I have gotten request from the mayor and area rep for the ministry of yield because of the need for the preschool to be open. But when you have an incorporative assistant local manager like Deacon Cal, this is a problem. What needs to happen now if they really want to see this open, the ministry as I have said to my political colleagues, everybody needs to their shoulder to the wheel if it means the district education council for some kind of leniency in terms of when school can be open for the children, maybe push it back for a week or two so that the bathroom situation can be fixed. That is what needs to happen. Some people are saying, why don’t you just allow them and they will fix it afterwards? Well because of the uncooperative nature of the assistant local manager who seems to not listen to his general manager, doesn’t listen to his bishop on occasions, and launches all kind of attacks against the Ministry of Education whenever he feels the need to. That is unacceptable. He needs to get it right.”