“We have not been informed about this, and of course we have no say about this (the sale).
“If they sell them to a developer, we will not agree or give approval if any building plans are submitted. How can you close the oldest school in Southeast Asia?” he told reporters today.
Earlier today, a news portal reported that the Convent Light Street and Convent Pulau Tikus secondary schools would cease enrolment and likely be closed in four years.
The Convent Pulau Tikus primary school is not affected as the land it sits on had been sold to the government years ago.
Both convents have primary and secondary schools.
The Malay Mail Online reported the trustees of the schools, the Sisters of the Holy Jesus, had decided to “take their land back”.
The state education department also confirmed that enrolment would cease beginning next year and it would distribute students to neighbouring schools, which an official said were “plenty”.
Established in 1852, Convent Light Street (CLS) has been touted as the oldest girl’s school in the country and likely in Southeast Asia.
The school was founded by three French Catholic nuns of the Holy Infant Jesus Mission. It was originally located in an attap hut at Church Street, before moving to its present location at Light Street in 1859.
The sisters bought over the Government House at Light Street, which was Penang founder Sir Captain Francis Light’s official residence, paying 50,000 French francs for the property and its surrounding seven-acre compound.
The building is also a historic monument for the state, with two wells dug by Light in existence until today.
The CLS was a school for all, where orphans, the poor and children of the elite studied. Thai royalty sent their children there, as it was once a boarding school.
The Convent Pulau Tikus, a sister school of the CLS, was set up in 1922. Both its primary and secondary schools are located at College Lane, close to Burmah Road.