Sat defends rights of denomination schools, tells TTUTA to know its place

Sat Maharaj: “We have a constitutional right to deny anyone entry into our schools.

Sat Maharaj took issue Saturday with the Trinidad & Tobago Unified Teachers' Association (TTUTA) and suggested the organisation should recognise the value of denominational schools instead of criticising them.

The Secretary General of the Sanatan Dharma Maha Saba (SDMS) said TTUTA and the school supervisors, should bow to the Hindu community for producing such "a massive institution" instead of claiming that the schools are government property.

The religious leader's comments were in reference to TTUTA's suggestion that religious boards should not have jurisdiction over the staffing of the schools since the are state property.

He accused TTUTA of vilifying denominational schools and of attempting establish divisions between state-owned schools and those run by religious organisations. 

Maharaj was speaking at the 16th Annual Chowtaal Sammelan, which marks the start of the Hindu festival of HOLI.

The festival commemorates the destruction of evil, embodied in an arrogant king, who was defeated by a child whose faith in God was more powerful than all weapons.

“In order to complete a child’s education, one must teach the religious and the secular,” Maharaj said. “What is the point if your child knows all the mathematical equations in the world, but does not know how to live and how to pray?”

Maharaj noted that 75 per cent of all primary schools in Trinidad & Tobago are owned by the country's major religious groups and they also own 33 per cent of all secondary schools. He explained that these schools "are merely assisted by the government" but are not owned by the government.

He supported his argument by reading from a High Court judgment which stated that the Teaching Service Commission must seek the approval of the denominational board on appointing teachers to assisted schools. 

“Not a teacher could come into a denominational school without the approval of the board. The conventional religious practices of denominational schools were converted into a constitutional right,” he said.

He condemned TTUTA, school supervisors and certain teachers, whom he said have tried to disrupt this principle. 

“We have a constitutional right to deny anyone entry into our schools. That means, we can tell the Tunapuna principal, you can’t come here and subvert our religion, we will lock you out,” he said.