Miracle Ministries stands firm in school row

Miracle Ministries Pentecostal High School (MMPHS) will remain closed on Monday despite a directive from the Ministry of Education to the school’s board to commence classes in the middle of a row with principal Omar Ali. “We are asking the ministry to make the necessary arrangements regarding the principal’s transfer, or the school remains closed,” board chairman Pastor Winston Cuffie told Newsday yesterday. The ministry sent a letter to Cuffie on Thursday advising that a closure would be in breach of the Education Act Chapter 39:01.

The circular warned that if the school is not opened on the first day of school on Monday, after the week-long Carnival holiday, “the necessary steps would be taken.” The school’s principal has sought a transfer from the school after a problem of a religious nature arose with the board. “We have to use our discretion, especially in matters that would jeopardise the children and their interests,” Cuffie said yesterday when Newsday visited the building used to house the 300-plus pupils.

Efforts to contact Ali yesterday proved futile, but a female relative told Newsday he left to attend a meeting in Port-of-Spain. The matter involving Ali is currently engaging the attention of the ministry and the Teaching Service Commission. Cuffie said the board could not be held in breach of any rule by refusing to open the school, if  the Concordat of 1960, which gives a denominational board the power to have a principal removed, is considered. Cuffie chastised the ministry for not effecting Ali’s transfer. “We maintain our position and let it go to the courts if it has to, but we are not going to compromise our position,” Cuffie said.