P.E.I. Greens allege 'lack of oversight' of private religious school

The P.E.I. Green Party expressed concern in the legislature Wednesday over what party leader Peter Bevan-Baker characterized as a lack of government oversight of private boarding schools in the province.

In particular the party singled out one private religious school, Moonlight International Academy, questioning how the province is able to deal with things like a language barrier with students in order to ensure their rights are protected.

"I need to be clear that we have no particular issues with anything that may or may not have happened there," Bevan-Baker told reporters after question period. "But what we do have is a concern [over] the potential lack of oversight for our most vulnerable population, which is our children.

"They are a long way from home in a different continent and a place where nobody speaks their language outside of the confines of their small community."

School licensed since 2014

As the province's Education Minister Brad Trivers told the legislature, Moonlight International Academy has been licensed as a private boarding school in the province since 2014.

It's associated with the Great Enlightenment Buddhist Institute Society, a group that attracts hundreds of monks from around the world to P.E.I. for training each year. According to the group's website, most of the monks come from Taiwan.

The group has three campuses on P.E.I. While most students are adults, it said it has 158 children currently enrolled in studies between grades 7 and 12.

"I'm not making any accusations or assertions here I'm just saying that I want to know that those children are fully protected as they have to be under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child," Bevan-Baker said. "And I'm just not fully confident that that's the case so we're just asking government what are you doing."

Annual inspections

Trivers told the legislature that as is the case with all private schools on P.E.I., Moonlight International Academy is inspected annually.

"Some of the things you look for in the inspection are: fire and environmental health requirements; child protection matters; staff criminal record checks; campus safety; liability insurance requirements; instructor qualifications; and educational requirements," Trivers told the House.

Trivers later said the school had passed all its annual inspections.

Students enrolled by their families, not 'taken'

After being contacted by CBC, Moonlight International Academy provided a statement saying children at the school "receive the highest standard of care, are safe and protected."

In the statement the organization said it was "disappointed" questions in the legislature "suggested children were 'taken' from families; rather, they were enrolled by their families."

The statement also invited members of the Official Opposition "to visit us and we would welcome the opportunity to address their concerns."

Geoffrey Yang, a spokesperson for the school, explained how the students maintain routine contact with their parents by internet, phone and video-conferencing.

He said students don't go home in the summer, but their families come to P.E.I. to stay nearby to spend time with their children.

Yang said the school's curriculum is a blend of "ancient wisdom" from the East along with a focus on contemporary analytical skills, language arts and sports.

He said all curriculum materials have been documented through P.E.I.'s Department of Education, and Island educators have visited the school "to see the education program first-hand."

He said besides annual inspections by the Department of Education, the school is also in regular contact with child protection services and with the health-care system — mostly through taking students to walk-in clinics or the emergency department, as necessary.

He said the school is in compliance with provincial rules, running criminal records and vulnerable sector checks on teaching staff.

But Bevan-Baker expressed frustration over efforts — some of them through freedom-of-information — to learn more about the school's operations and suggested an investigation of all private schools in the province where children live on-site should be undertaken by P.E.I.'s new independent child and youth advocate, once the position has been filled.

Legislation to create the position was passed Wednesday.

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