The state government on Friday reiterated that the Christian missionary schools would have to follow its guidelines while recruiting teachers, heads and other employees. The norms are likely to be spelt out in the proposed Private Education Act.

During a meeting on Friday, school education minister Partha Dey rejected an appeal for relaxation of norms by the representatives of Christian missionaries.

“The government does not intend to infringe upon minority rights. The guidelines are aimed at ensuring job security for employees and maintaining transparency in the recruitment process. A section of missionary schools are not willing to accept all the guidelines,” said Dey after the meeting.

The planned act will try to ensure better governance at private educational institutions, including state-aided and unaided schools run by Christian missionaries.

“The government must ensure that the schools run by Christian missionaries enjoy minority rights. For example, we should enjoy absolute power in selection of heads of our institutions,” said Herod Mullick, the general secretary of Bangiya Christiya Pariseba, a forum for various Christian bodies.

Sources told Metro that once the guidelines come into effect, missionary schools will have to choose teachers only on the basis of merit. They will not be able to dismiss an employee on flimsy grounds. There will also be provisions to allow teachers to defend themselves if they feel they have been victimised by the management.

Recruitment criteria of teachers constitute an important point of difference between the government and the Christian missionary schools.

“Missionary schools follow a certain philosophy. We should enjoy the liberty to assess whether aspiring teachers can adhere to these philosophies,” said Father Faustine Brank, a member of the Association of Christian Schools.

According to the representatives of the missionaries, the proposed guidelines do not give them enough liberty in this regard.

Till the new regulation is framed, the missionary schools will be able to recruit staff according to the special rules framed in 1976. The earlier guidelines grant absolute powers to missionaries in recruitment.

Since the late-1990s, the government has issued orders that curbed the recruitment rights given in the 1976 guidelines, according to the missionaries.