Senior officials of the Anjuman Sunnat-ul-Jamaat (ASJA) board has found favour with the High Court judgment that regulated the authority of the Teaching Service Commission (TSC) over denominational schools.

One senior ASJA official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said yesterday the inefficiency of the TSC's processes was affecting pupils.

"We have always maintained that denominational schools run by ASJA are the property of ASJA," he said.

ASJA, he said, agreed with recent statements by Sanantan Dharma Maha Sabha (SDMS) secretary general Satnarayan Maharaj that the TSC should have less authority over the running of the denominational schools.

"The board has a certain degree of control over the use of these premises," he said.

ASJA was recently in a situation similar to the Tunapuna Hindu School, where Patricia Mohammed, a teacher, met opposition from the school's Parent Teacher Association and was barred from the school compound at the opening of the new term.

"While we agree that the TSC has the authority over the members of staff at our school, we maintain that as the board we do have an input in the conduct of staff at the school and we can maintain a certain level of discipline in accordance with the character of the denominations," he said.

"We are also aware that the process has to be the principal, through the district supervisors and the Minister of Education and eventually the TSC, but when that process is not efficiently carried out after complaints, then the boards, with its desire to maintain the schools tenets have to have an input in the general management of the school," he said.

Roustan Job, head of the Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers Association (TTUTA) disagreed with the positions taken both by the ASJA denominational board and SDMS board.

"I think Mr Maharaj is misleading the public," he said in a telephone interview yesterday.

"We will want to say that although the board owns the buildings, it is the State that will use the property and as such the school is owned by the State," he said.

He said Maharaj must understand that while the denominational boards own the physical buildings, the institution of the school was owned by the Government.

"The salaries are paid by the State. He feels he has the building, but that is all he owns because he does not equip the buildings," he said.

Job said the High Court judgment handed down by Justice Sebastian Ventour on Wednesday does not change of affect TTUTA's view on the continued "saga" at the Tunapuna Hindu School.

The judgment, according to Maharaj, however, gave denominational boards more control over the schools.

The SDMS board and the school's PTA are opposed to the continued employment of the Tunapuna Hindu School principal Sita Gajadharsingh-Nanga and interviews are currently being conducted by the TSC to find a suitable replacement.