At this period, the "mission school authorities baulked" at the government's request that they "surrender" their schools - land and buildings - to the government to be converted into fully aided national schools. Today, the various religious denominations still retain ownership of the "land and school buildings" of their missionary schools with the schools themselves operating as "only grant-in-aid national schools". They are not "fully aided" government schools. The church groups receive a "token monthly rent" from the government. The closure of a missionary school results in the "plots of land" being returned by the Education Ministry to their "owners" - the religious groups.