Upon independence the Government recognized that it had neither the funds nor the personnel to take over these institutions and agreed to subsidize their operations. The Government also pays the salaries of most teachers and health staff in the national education system. However, the Government does not subsidize church schools that do not align their curriculums with governmental criteria. There is mutual understanding between the Government and the churches but no formal memorandum of understanding. Although theoretically non-Christian religions can be taught in the schools, there is no such instruction at present.
Some foreign missionaries continue to work in the country.
However, with the exception of the Roman Catholic Church, whose clergy is about 50 percent indigenous, the clergy of the other traditional churches is indigenous. There are no government-sponsored ecumenical activities. There was no change in the status of respect for religious freedom during the period covered by this report. Although a government minister threatened in late 1999 to deny the Baha'i Faith future program access to the national radio, the matter was settled amicably, and the Baha'i continue to broadcast. There were no reports of religious detainees or prisoners.