FIFTEEN of the 45 pupils displaced after the closure of Drakes Christian School last month will be placed in public primary schools when school reopens next week.

The school, renamed Elijah at Shiloh Christian School Inc., abruptly closed its doors on March 20, 2008. It catered to children with learning disabilities.

Owners Sydney and Frances Drakes said they were forced to close since they could not afford to pay Value-Added Tax (VAT), from which they said other schools were exempt, on top of their existing expenses.

Chief Education Officer Wendy Griffith-Watson told the DAILY NATION the pupils were currently being processed to enter their new schools. She could not say which schools they would be attending.

However, parents of the other 30 pupils have not approached the ministry to have their children integrated into the public school system.

"This means they probably opted to place their children in other private schools," said Griffith-Watson. (MR)