As the school year near its end, the educational authorities are already getting ready for the new one. The goal is that the year begins serenely. The minister of Education met both rectors of state schools and those of private schools to share his concerns and ideas for the best possible year in 2005.

On the one side, Steven Obeegadoo said the main problem in State schools was the slowness of administrative procedures. The beginning of next year appears crucial for the government since it will be the first year that school attendance becomes compulsory until 16 for all children. As a result, he wants things to go smoothly.

With the new measure, the number of students entering Form I goes from 17,000 in 2000 to some 21,700 in 2005. The attendance rate has also gone from 80% in 2000 to 86% in 2004 and should reach 100% in four years. It is in this perspective that the minister is trying to organize the beginning of the year.

During a one-day seminar with State school rectors last week at Domaine Les Pailles, the minister identified the problems and difficulties that school management faces. He sensitized them to the new measure for compulsory attendance. Moreover, he suggested a better communication system between rectors, parents and students.

<B>Pre-professional classes</B>

As for private schools, rectors have cooled down. With the minister’s announcement that he wanted to create pre-professional classes in private schools, some rectors feared that their schools would become only pre-professional ones. But Steven Obeegadoo met the federation of private school managers and convinced them that it was not the case.

Actually, the minister won’t compel colleges to create such streams; they are just advised to do so. He made it clear that most State schools already have one but are not considered as pre-vocational schools. Moreover, 55-60% of private schools already have such classes.

With the compulsory attendance until 16, private colleges should implement such classes to offer an option to students, who do not wish to follow academic streams. Most school drop-offs are those who fail the certificate for primary education exams. And they are usually oriented to pre-professional schools are classes.

The minister should continue meetings with heads of schools to ensure a smooth implementation of the new measure. But already the storm seems to be gathering with the report of the HPC concerning the Pereira case (see inset).

<B>UNIONS MOBILISE AGAINST DECISION OF HIGH POWERED COMMITTEE</B>

Jacques Pereira is finally eligible for the job of principal. The High Powered Committee set up to find a solution has concluded that any teacher with fifteen years’ experience and having taught for five years after obtaining his/her Postgraduate Certificate of Education can apply. Jacques Pereira had never been allowed to do so because he did not have the two “A-levels at one sitting” prior to his degrees, which are part of the conditions for an application to become a rector/principal. Teachers’ unions from public and private sectors, as well as managers of private colleges, have protested against this new measure since they believe the government only got round the difficulty of one individual. They had expected the committee to tackle the real issue but were disappointed to see that nothing has been done concerning the «A-levels issue».