prosecutions by the Attorney General's chambers.

Operators of the Christian Deliverance Academy in Flatts and the Clara Mohammed Elementary School in Pembroke have allegedly ignored numerous warnings from the Education Department to stop running the schools.

Chief Education Officer Mr. Dean Furbert said this week the schools were still "operating illegally'' and he conceded that there was nothing the Education Department could do to stop them.

"Once it goes to the court, it is their responsibility to carry through with prosecution,'' he said. "There's no more that we can do.'' Mr. Furbert, who has referred both cases to the Attorney General's chambers, said the main reason the department had not issued the Academy a licence was because it was operating without planning approval.

The Academy, which has been run by Evangel Tabernacle pastor Rev. Stanley Lee and principal the Rev. Dr. Muriel Wade Smith in the church basement for the past four years, has 33 students ranging from age three to 18.

Each of the students pay some $3,000 a year for a fundamentalist-Christian-based education.

The Moslem-operated Clara Mohammed Elementary School, located at the Majsid Mohammed mosque on Cedar Avenue, has enrolled approximately 10 students between the ages of four and eight since its inception last year.

Operators of both schools have applied for school registration licences. But in both cases, the Education Department said they required more information, which has yet to be supplied.

However, both schools are apparently determined to keep their doors open, claiming they have a responsibility to educate youngsters growing up in their religions.

Dr. Wade Smith and Rev. Lee, who were each fined $100 in May, 1990, for running the unregistered school, are also ignoring a Development Application Board ruling which rejected their application to operate a school at the church site because of "excessive noise, traffic and general activities'' which are associated with a school would have a "detrimental impact on the amenities of this dense residential area.'.

But the fundamentalist Christian educators are appealing against the decision to Environment Minister the Hon. Ann Cartwright DeCouto who could overrule the DAB decision and keep the school open, or could uphold the DAB ruling and issue an enforcement order to close the school.

Both Rev. Lee and Rev. Dr. Wade Smith appeared in Magistrates' Court earlier this week.

Their lawyer Mr. Tim Marshall asked that the matter be adjourned.

"It is hoped that it (the adjournment) may assist in the ultimate resolution of the matter,'' he said.

A court date was set for October.

Pastor Lee and the Rev. Dr. Wade Smith refused to comment on the school's activities yesterday. And no one from the Clara Mohammad Elementary School could be reached for comment.