The schools are the primary and secondary national-type schools at Convent Light Street and the secondary national-type school at Convent Pulau Tikus.
They follow the national syllabus and are managed by the education ministry, which supplies teaching and administrative staff. However, the land and property belong to the Sisters of the Holy Infant Jesus (SIJ) order.
In a statement today, the secretariat of the order said: “We wish to impress that the IJ Sisters are firm believers of education and they will continue to advocate wholesome education in their mission schools.
“Please do not speculate and we know it is frustrating not to have any update or knowledge relating to the report at this juncture.”
News of the closure of the schools first broke in 2017 and the Sisters said at the time that it had no plans to redevelop or sell the land but would continue to use it for educational purposes.
SIJ’s Sister Celina Wong had said: “The Sisters want to go back to our initial reason for being here, that is, the initial objective of providing a wholesome education in our mission schools.
“It is about bringing back our ethos, the special character and traditions of what a mission school is, a mission school that promotes the overall formation of an individual child irrespective of race, religion or social standing.”
However, recent news reports revived the issue of the withdrawal of the schools from the national system, bringing it to public attention again. Reports from other media said the schools would stop operating by 2024, based on a notification to the education department that the SIJ would reclaim the buildings and land by then.
The secretariat also said a clearer picture would be given once the head of the order, the Lady Superior, returns from a meeting at the Vatican early next month.
Earlier today, Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow responded to calls to take over the land and schools, saying the matter was best left to federal authorities. He said most mission-run and Chinese medium schools had retained ownership of their land in order to protect the identities of the schools.
The Convent Light Street Convent was founded 167 years ago by the SIJ. They opened the Pulau Tikus Convent in 1922.