His voice could add much weight to the debate. Former minister of Education, Kadress Pillay, has come back to the forefront with his association, Elan, to denounce a system that “does not benefit children”. At his first public meeting last week in Rose-Hill he condemned Gokhool’s reform that “does not take each child’s specificity into account and will prevent lots of students from developing their potential skills or talents”.

Kadress Pillay believes in an education system based on the development of multiple intelligences. A child may not have much academic intelligence but his/her artistic potential could be really developed. By creating the A + grading and limited admissions to national colleges for the elite, emphasis will be put on traditional academic subjects without giving any chance to most pupils to succeed in a different sphere. “The real challenge is to create a global citizen who is able to understand the cultural requirements of globalisation.”

For the ex-minister, education should abolish all forms of selection if it is to be fair. “Education is the main tool of national construction. But every year 10,000 children are ignored by the system. Even those who succeed have a poor imagination, as pointed out by the MES.”

Public awareness and commitment</B>