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(b) The decision to close the School was arrived
at in a meeting between senior officers of
the Education Department and the School's
Management Committee, on the afternoon of
12th May 1978 and based mainly on events
that occurred since 7th May. Assessment of
these events were made, understandably, in
isolation of and detached from developments
dating back to February 1977, of which a
historical perspective we now have had the
benefit of being able to obtain. Although
the decision was reviewed on the morning of
13th May 1978, there was no concrete evidence
to satisfy the Acting Director of Education
that normal school life could resume on the
days that followed.
(c)
(d)
The possibility of closing the School for only
a relatively short period, during which
attempts could be made to restore normality,
was minimal in view of the clear and firm
decision of the Precious Blood Congregation
to relinguish sponsorship of the School. This possibility was further reduced by the
imminent announcement of the new arrangements
for the take-over by the Catholic Mission and
the impending end of the school year.
In the absence of an adequate appreciation
of the development of events the Education
Department had missed the opportunity to
play a mediatory role in this unfortunate
affair. By mid-June 1977, it had lost its
neutral stand and the Director of Education
was placed in the position of having to
/maintain