Row over managers' sacking drags on

The struggle over the control of a prominent Christian school is continuing as a group of sacked managers push on with an attempt to have their deregistration overturned.

A spokesman for the Education and Manpower Bureau this week confirmed that five former managers of the Christian Alliance PC Lau Memorial International School have appealed against the cancellation of their registration.

'They lodged the appeal in mid-July, and we have now begun looking into the matter,' the spokesman said.

He said it was not known how long the appeal process was likely to take.

The managers, who oversaw the school on a voluntary basis, were sacked by the Kowloon Tong Church of the Chinese Christian and Missionary Alliance, which owns the school, in June following a revolt by parents and teachers over their decision to replace principal Arthur Enns when his contract ended at the end of the school year.

Former management committee chairman, lawyer Barry Yen, declined to comment.

Mr Yen previously told the Post the former managers could put their case to an appeals board, then the chief executive in council and finally to a judicial review. He expected the case to drag on for months.

Mr Enns, who has been retained as principal, said the school felt it was time to move on.

'The new management is a positive move for the school and we feel the dismissal of the old management was equally good for the school,' he said.

'The new school management committee has already proved to be very effective and responsive to the needs of the school's stakeholders.

'If they [the former managers] want to appeal, then that is their business, and in the rule of law they have the right to appeal.'

Stanley Li Yiu-sang, a member of the new management committee, said he hoped the appeal would fail. 'We hope that the EMB's appeal board can understand our position,' he said.

'The stakeholders are very concerned about this. I think they would react very strongly if the appeal was successful.'