Times
*Christians kicked out of schools, colleges* *Mfanukhona Nkambule, Times of Swaziland, 30 May 2010*MBABANE -- Churches holding worship services at government schools and colleges face mass evictions.
Authorities of these institutions have said their schools and colleges were not built for Christians to worship God.
Others said the churches were damaging the school's property. The school property includes the furniture and windows.
The Times SUNDAY can reveal that about eight churches have been ordered to vacate the premises of the Swaziland College of Technology (SCOT) by July 31, 2010.
Impeccable sources close to SCOT administration said pastors of these embattled churches were summoned to an extraordinary meeting two weeks ago where college authorities issued the directive. There are five churches in the same predicament at the Mbabane Central High School. It has been established that the Mbabane Central High School administration had also met the pastors over the matter.
The administration is said to have told them to look for alternative places for worship. In Mbabane alone, about 13 churches using the facilities of these two institutions would be homeless soon. On average, each church has a membership of 150 people.
The church with arguably the largest membership is Arise Church International, which conducts its services at SCOT along with students of the same college.
Arise Church has about 400 members. Other churches conducting services at Swaziland College of Technology include among others, Impact Ministries, Apostolic Church, Arise Church and others.
On average, it means over 2 000 congregants from the 13 churches would have no place for worship in Mbabane. John Gwebu, Mbabane Central High School principal, confirmed the administration's decision to stop the churches from using the school facilities for their services.
Gwebu said the churches conducting services at his school were informed last year to look for alternative places. He said the churches worshipping God at Central High had not yet moved out of the school premises. He said school administration had not forced them out on assumption that they were still in the process of finding alternative worship centres.
He said they were not against the worship of God.However, they recognise that the school was not built for religious purposes.
He said religion was, however, very vital and urged government to build chapels in the cities.
"I urge government to build the chapels in the cities because we cannot deny the fact that Swaziland is a Christian country. The churches would then work on a programme to accommodate those in need," he said.
Only one church used St Mark's High facilities. This is the International Tabernacle which has since left the school.The reason was ostensibly that the school was preparing for the commemoration of the 100th anniversary. In the meantime, the hall, according to the administration, is not leased out.
The classrooms cannot be turned into churches as well.The administration at Lobamba National Primary School does not see any reason why their classrooms cannot be used for Godly things. The administration here told the Times SUNDAY that two churches would continue to worship God here because they brought their own chairs to the school.
At Swazi National High School, according to the school authorities, the hall could be used for church services or weddings during the school holiday.
Swazi National High has barred churches from using their classrooms. This school sometimes allows churches holding camp meetings to pitch tents at its sports ground.
At SCOT, they referred us to the Principal Secretary Pat Muir and Peterson Dlamini, Chief Inspector of tertiary institutions.
*Don't look at me -- minister*MBABANE -- Wilson Ntshangase, the Minister of Education, says the decision to evict the churches from government schools and colleges is not the ministry's.
He said institutions using his name to evict the churches should not be afraid of telling the pastors that they were using their discretion in doing so.
He said it was, however, true that government buildings were meant for teaching and learning. He said it was not right for churches to conduct services in government classes for many years.
Ntshangase said he only warned principals against leasing out the school furniture to the churches. He said he had never issued the directive that the churches should be evicted. He said any principal evicting the Christians was using his or her discretion.
He then referred enquiries to Pat Muir, the Principal Secretary. The minister thought Muir might be aware of the evictions.
Meanwhile, Muir concurred with the minister that his ministry has not authorised the church evictions.
Muir said the school and college halls could be leased out without a problem. He said government was only concerned about the furniture and any damageable property.
The Principal Secretary said the ministry had all along been assuming the colleges and schools were doing the right thing to lease out their buildings for purposes of generating income.
"In case the schools leased out the furniture, somebody representing the school or college must be there to see how the furniture is being used," said Muir.
"We don't have a problem with the buildings, we are only worried about the furniture," he said.
He said the ministry of education was not against the operation of churches.He said the eviction of these ministries was not the decision of the ministry. He said the principals were at liberty to exercise their discretion in the management of their diverse institutions.
"If they decide that it's not right for the churches to use the buildings for the services, the principals can decide on their own without the involvement of the ministry," he said.
He said schools should consider other means to generate an income.Meanwhile, Charles Bennett, chairman of the Swaziland Principals Association (SWAPA) says the minister only advised them against renting out the furniture.
He said his school was renting out the hall to a church to worship God every Sunday because he believed a school should also serve the community.
Bennett said the school hall was also built by the community. He said he was aware of the directive by the minister that the furniture should not be rented out.
He said he never advised them against renting out the buildings.*From: http://www.times.co.sz/index.php?news=16973&vote=1&aid=16973&Vote=Vote <http://www.times.co.sz/index.php?news=16973&vote=1&aid=16973&Vote=Vote>*
* * -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] .
<<image/gif>>
