Tamil Nadu, open enrollment for Christian children: Catholic school accused of favoritism
by Nirmala Carvalho

The Nirmala Matha Convent Matric Higher Secondary School in Kuniyamuthur, near Coimbatore, is run by the Sisters of the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. In order not to crowd the building during the exam days, the principal had scheduled the enrollment of kindergarten children on different days.


Mumbai (AsiaNews) - A Catholic school in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, was hit by a ferocious wave of criticism after the school leadership had opened enrollments for Christian children who want to attend asylum. The nuns who run the structure have been accused of favoritism and fomenting "sectarian policies on education".

Sajan K George, president of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), tells AsiaNews "the right of schools in the Christian minority to enroll students in their community, as guaranteed by the National Commission for the Minority Educational Institutions Act of 2004, as amended from the NCMEI (Amendment Act 2006) ".

The Christian leader says that the offending school is the Nirmala Matha Convent Matric Higher Secondary School of Kuniyamuthur, in Coimbatore. The institute is run by the nuns of the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. For administrative reasons, in recent days, the school posted a sign for the registration at kindergarten (Lower Kindergarten, Lk) in which appeared the words: "Applications for asylum enrollment of Christian students only will be distributed on March 2, 2019 ".

The school principal explained that she wanted to separate the applications for admission to the school for a simple organizational question: in fact, exams are currently underway and the school administration wanted to avoid the creation of large crowds that disturbed the students . Furthermore, the principal explains, "students of every religion are studying in our school".

However, the poster has aroused the reaction of the population, which accuses the school of favoritism on the basis of religion. The nuns declare to the authorities that they did not expect such heated criticism. Despite this, not to displease anyone, they decided to remove the announcement and in the coming days will proceed with a new one for all students.

Sajan K George complains: "The school circular only wanted to prevent excessive crowds. It was not based on any religious preference".