Sighs and tears. This is how the first day in a primary school can be described for a lot of new pupils. This is why the Bridging the gap initiative was one of the strategies implemented by the ministry of Education in 2005. The project, aimed at ?eliminating the feeling of estrangement and alienation the child feels when he enters a primary school away from his family and building a strong and sustainable pedagogical link between the pre-school programme and the first term of standard one?. However, some teachers do not seem to believe in its validity?

There is a drastic change between education at pre-primary level and primary level. The child is required to go from a gentle and secure environment to a purely academic sphere where there is not much time and attention given to each pupil. ?The change must be done more gradually and within a more familiar environment,? says Om Varma from the Mauritius Institute of Education (MIE). ?Instead of working in the textbook as from the first day at primary school, the relationship should be more interactive and the pedagogy adopted should be done through games, songs and more familiar situations,? he adds.

However, all teachers do not seem to welcome the project with open arms. They point at the transition as a ?waste of time? for the majority of pupils. ?Many pre-primary schools have started pre-writing or even writing exercises with their pupils but the first term of standard one does not include any writing since the implementation of the bridging the gap project,? a teacher in a primary school complains. But one of the main advantages of this project is that it puts all pupils coming from pre-primary at the same level to start the second term on the same footing.

Teachers also complain about the difficulty of finishing the books on the syllabus with their pupils in only two terms. ?If the work in books starts only at the beginning of the second term, then it is impossible for us to finish them by the end of the year. Oral work could last one month instead of the three planned by the project,? suggests another teacher.

But the MIE lecturer seems to favour a softer approach. In fact, the ?Bridging the gap? initiative should help break the routine in the classroom. ?The book should not be a bible and the teacher should not follow it from the first to the last page. Teachers should be free to build their own tools while basing themselves on the books.?

A source at the ministry does not deny that there was some resistance from teachers when the project was implemented but he makes it clear that they are a minority, as ?80 % of teachers appeared happy with the initiative. There were some teething problems at the outset but this was considered normal. Mentalities take some time before accepting any change?.

<B>New training sessions in December</B>

However, the ministry seems to have drawn the lessons from the difficulties which marked the beginning and intends to start new training sessions at the end of this year. Training was indeed given to teachers last year when the programme was implemented but training methods will be reviewed this year.

As from December, the teachers will be given a pack file with teacher-friendly methods to help them offer the right support to children when they enter primary school. These children must be taught how to read, write, listen, count, colour and must be given basic principles of health care, for instance. But this can?t be done in an automatic way.

One of the main criticisms the ministry had to face when the project was set up was that children were only meant to sing and dance in class. ?Of course, this was not the case and this year also, we will not eliminate this ?play? aspect of the initiative but teachers will be better channelled to orient their teaching practices,? says an official source.

For instance, each Standard one teacher will be given a booklet on Art and Design including a variety of activities for children. Music and audio-lingual support are also expected to play a major role in teaching.

?It will definitely take some time before everyone accepts the project. But teaching is challenging and demands some innovations,? says a pedagogue. Teaching no longer means sitting at a desk and dispensing facts. Now, teachers must be with their pupils and listen to their needs.

In fact, the ?Bridging the gap? initiative may improve as it is extended to all levels. ?The methods in this project are actually the ones encouraged by the MIE at all levels,? says Om Varma. Breaking the routine with teachers? own tools without too much focus on textbooks: this is what the whole education system should actually aim at. ?Bridging the gap? is a first step but the project should apply to the whole system.

<B>Physical improvements</B>

■ ?Bridging the gap? does not only involve a change in the curriculum and teaching methods but also some physical changes. ?The objective is to create the same atmosphere as in pre-primary schools,? says Sanjay Bhowon, who is in charge of the project at the ministry. All classrooms have already been tiled and supplied with wash basins. 130 sections out of 500 have been given new furniture but all this is very expensive. Some classrooms have also been given toys and special backboards but the ministry acknowledges that providing all classrooms with appropriate equipment might take some time because of the cost of such projects. But they assert they are ?on the right path?.