<I>Ombudsperson for Children</I>

<B>“We were taught to be critical“</B>

“I have memories of quite a few teachers, mostly when I was at secondary level from 1961 to 1967. According to me, this is the time when we are most influenced in intellectual terms. Of course, we now know that early childhood development is fundamental and some even say that all is set before the age of two.

It was definitely at Queen Elizabeth College that I was exposed to knowledge, life orientation and life skills as well as values, which have forged my character. Basically the headmistress, Mrs Flashman, and all the teachers of those days at the one and only State college for girls played a key role in my development. I remember those days with pleasure thanks to Ms Mokshda Kishtoe, who was teaching English. There was also Ms Gassy for History, Ms Arlette Bazire for Mathematics and Ms Soobiah for French. Marie Achille, Elspeth Honoré and Jill Charoux, all taught English literature. Mrs Béchard was the music teacher. She did a lot for me by giving me a taste for classical music.

We learnt to breathe and sing properly, and we sang specific positive songs everyday at Assembly time. This was fantastic as it gave us a sense of belonging to the school. And I am so pleased that, when I spoke to minister Dharam Ghokhool on the need to introduce morning assembly in all schools, he accepted the idea immediately. This past week, I have been in three schools and, though these were specific occasions, I enjoyed this feeling once again with the children.

With this as a background, I must say that if I have to choose one teacher, I would speak of Jill Charoux. She taught English Literature, specially the Romantics. We always looked forward to going to school as our teachers opened a whole new perspective in our lives. Jill made learning such fun. We discovered Keats, Shelley and Byron with enthusiasm. She used to invite us to her house to help us stage plays.

I still remember in particular playing in A School for Scandal by Sheridan, who was interested in both literature and politics. Jill never imposed her opinions upon us. She gave us the chance to discover all sorts of ideas, some of which were quite revolutionary. Then it was up to us to be touched and inspired.

In those days we were taught to be critical. We held debates including against other schools. I remember particularly the numerous debates that I participated in against Anil Gayan who was then at Royal College Port-Louis. Hence, I do not find it surprising that both of us became barristers and politicians...

I am afraid that some teachers nowadays do not give their pupils the chance to develop. There is so much rote learning and so little analysis and respect for the child’s opinions. Chidren’s minds are overburdened with a mass of information which they do not always know how to use. They just memorize. This is even more useless today when an amazing amount of information on innumerable subjects is available at the click of a mouse. Why then continue treating the young brains as sponges? I am not surprised that some HSC students do not go to school before exams. They can do so much by themselves, or with the help of others outside school…

I have drawn public attention to the fact that “education of a child shall be directed to the development of the child’s personality, talents and mental and physical abilities to their fullest potential” (Article 29 a of the Convention on the Rights of the child). When we indulged in artistic and cultural activities, we were not wasting our time. Fortunately some schools still encourage their pupils to learn through artistic and cultural activities.

I also think that schools like these do not have discipline problems. They may have children with behavioural problems and they would naturally seek medical or psychological help for these children.

Teachers must be committed. They are such important role models. They must also be encouraged, be given proper training including in Human Rights and specifically how to deal with children who have problems or are victims of child abuse. We are happy that the ministry is now committed to these kinds of training. Our own kit on violence at school is now ready and will hopefully be useful for teacher training.