The stand-off over Ramatea must end

Editor | Thursday September 1, 2011 00:00

This is because the feud has put the future of staff and up to 339 students at the institution at risk.

At the end of last month, nobody knew what was going to happen to the students and staff if the government and the church did not agree.

The government is likely to stop the training subsidy it gives to RAVOS this month and the board that runs the institution knows the disaster that might follow.

 The subsidy is a training fund that includes sponsorship for students. The board is aware that the subsidy forms a major source of income for RAVOS and its stoppage might sound the death knell for the institution.

Put simply, the board has conceded in a letter to the Commissioner of Labour that the institution will automatically close down if the government subsidy is stopped.

Most definitely we do not need this. Neither do we have to wait until it happens. We believe that the issues at the centre of the disagreement between the government and the board can be sorted out amicably.

We urge both sides to cede ground in the spirit of give and take to avert disaster. Let us not put the future of the students and staff at risk because of matters that can be resolved easily. So far the board says that the government has rejected all its proposals on the takeover.

The board has suggested that the institution should be inherited on the same terms as the takeover of other mission schools such as Moeding and St Joseph's; or government should compensate the owners; or it should be supported by government like other organisations.

We do not know the government's counter-offer, but we hear that the bone of contention is the board's proposal that the institution eventually relocate once it is taken over by the state.

The board seems to be keen to retain the immovable property of the school after the takeover.

If this is the major obstacle, then we believe the government and the church are capable of overcoming it.

This is not the first time that the government is taking over such an institution. Therefore, experience with other take-overs should come in handy.             

                                                Today's Thought

'If we don't change the direction we are going, we are likely to end up where we are heading.'                                                  - Chinese Proverb