Church and state can work together

The row over democracy in church schools has taken another turn for the worse. The Catholic Church has warned that it may sue to protect control of its schools. At issue is the Education (Amendment) Bill 2002, which seeks to require every publicly funded school to set up a statutory board. The sponsoring body would appoint 60 per cent of the board members, while the rest would comprise elected staff and parent representatives, an alumni and a community member.

The Democratic Party, whose key member Cheung Man-kwong is also chairman of the Professional Teachers' Union, used to be very supportive of the bill, because the union has long campaigned for enhanced transparency and participation of all stakeholders in school management. In April 2000, the union's response to a consultation paper on school-based management was that a democratic decision-making mechanism and an independent monitoring system should be installed at every publicly funded school to ensure it would not mismanage its resources. The union also felt that the sponsoring body should appoint only 50 per cent of board members.

All along, the Catholic Church has been opposed to the bill on the rather dubious grounds that the statutory school board would weaken the churches' control over their schools, as the boards will be directly accountable to the government. It also object to the bill's proposal requiring the involvement of the sponsoring body, school board and an independent member in selecting a principal.

Until late last year, Mr Cheung and the Democratic Party had maintained their support for the bill, staunchly resisting the churches' demand to involve the stakeholders in school management through administrative means only. Over the past four years, the bill has incorporated many provisions aimed at addressing sponsoring bodies' concerns, such as maintaining their right to appoint 60 per cent of school board members, limiting the voting powers of elected staff and parent representatives, and barring a school board from amending the school's mission, including its religious character.

Yet, intense lobbying by Bishop Zen Ze-kiun, who has shot to fame because of his vocal calls for the early election of the chief executive and Legco by universal suffrage, has eventually caused Mr Cheung and the Democratic Party to back-pedal on the issue. Mr Cheung is seeking to push through an amendment which would effectively postpone the implementation of the bill, should it be passed, for another three years.

The church now says that the bill may breach Article 141 of the Basic Law, which provides that the government 'shall not restrict the freedom of religious belief, interfere in the internal affairs of religious organisations or restrict religious activities which do not contravene the laws of the region'.