by Surendra BISSOONDOYAL

Now you see it. Now you don?t. In the educational desert in which the minister of Education wants us to see an education of ?world class quality? we thought for a moment that the window of opportunity was being opened to bring in some fresh air.

We were in fact seeing only a mirage ?imagining things as they should be? ?- an expression borrowed from the document ?Empowering the Nation?s children??, but were rudely awakened by the minister himself when he proclaimed that the higher success rate of children at the CPE 2006 Exam compared to 2005 was a result of his ?reforms?.

What ?reforms?? Back to Square One with a non-transparent ranking? In education, as in many other fields (e.g. in the economy, as the minister of finance keeps reminding us), reforms take a few years to materialize, not nine months. Some people, short on achievements, like to appropriate what is not theirs. If the success rate at the CPE Exam has been improving over the past two years, it is due to many factors, the main one being the abolition of ranking in 2002. Those who took part in the 2006 CPE Exam were in Standard II in 2002 and have benefited from a less pressurized learning environment, leaving them more time for other worthwhile activities, without the dagger of cut-throat competition hanging over their heads. The ZEP schools and the teachers also played their role, looking after all the children, and not just the high flyers.

The proposed Form III National Exam has been suffering the same fate. Now you see it. Now you don?t. After universal primary education was achieved, it was Sir Kher Jagatsingh who had the vision to propose the setting up of Junior Secondary Schools in 1973, at a time when there were only four State Colleges. This was achieved through the First World Bank Education Project. I was appointed its Project Manager by the then Prime Minister, Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam and we saw to it that the 15 JSS were spread over the whole island.

This was the beginning of the democratization of secondary education. At the same time the most comprehensive education reform was launched with the setting up of the MIE, which had, as its immediate objectives, the development of a lower secondary curriculum, the pre-service training of teachers for these JSS and the organization of a Form III National Exam. The MIE was ready with the exam papers which had already been printed, but the exam, which was scheduled to take place in 1980, was scuttled by the managers of private secondary schools who saw in it a danger to their own existence.

After Minister Parsuramen?s 9-year schooling project met with the same fate, the National Education Council came up in 1995 with the proposal to convert the ?most sought after? secondary schools into Form VI Colleges, thereby abolishing ranking at the CPE. This time it was mainly the Catholic Schools which opposed it on the ground that secondary education is a continuous stage and should not be provided in segments in separate institutions.

Minister Pillay had the novel idea in 1997 of constructing 60 identical middle schools (Forms I ? III) to do away with the CPE exam and ranking, but the project was too avantgardiste and did not take off.

It was left to minister Obeegadoo to turn a dream into reality. Huge resources were poured into the construction of some 40 new State Secondary Schools (Forms I ? V), the thorny problem of the status of Asian languages was resolved and the children were relieved when ranking was abolished in 2002.

The ancient sages of India had the vision to understand and the freedom to proclaim that education is that which liberates : Sa Vidya Ya Vimuktaye? . Our ?modern? political masters move backward whilst talking about an education of ?world class quality?. They dangle their ?strategy for reform? but it is only a mirage that we see. They continue to imprison children within the narrow walls of a classroom and of a few academic examinable subjects.

May 2007 make them realize the wisdom of ?Sa Vidya Ya Vimuktaye? and its relevance and importance in the world today.