I am sure that many of his former students will be saddened to hear of the passing away of André Philippe César on April 11^th of this year.  “Monsieur César”, as we used to call him, taught at Philippe Rivalland RCA in Beau-Bassin for several years in the 1980s.  I was privileged to be one of his students (or pupils as we were known back then) in Standards V and VI, as he prepared us for the Certificate of Primary Education (CPE) in Mathematics, English, French and Geography.     

Although traditional teaching methods with an emphasis on rote learning and memorization prevailed during those years, Philippe encouraged us to develop a passion for reading (in both English and French) and to be aware of current events.  As 11-year olds, we were sometimes asked to solve fairly complex mathematical problems that went well beyond what he had taught us in the classroom.  Looking back, I can honestly say that his focus on the development of these core skills – reading, writing and reasoning – made a huge difference later on.     

Many of his students will remember Monsieur César as a strict teacher but I would also highlight his incredible dedication to his students, and his humility.  His passion for teaching never wavered and watching his students succeed was his ultimate reward.  We kept in touch for many years after the CPE while I continued my schooling at the Royal College Curepipe, with several classmates from the same Standard VI class at Philippe Rivalland RCA.  I would occasionally drop by to see him in the afternoons after school while he was busy tutoring students.  Philippe would take a short break from tutoring and talk for a few minutes; he was always interested in hearing how his former students were doing. 

After I left Mauritius in the early 1990s, it became more difficult to stay in touch.  As luck would have it, I ran into Monsieur César in downtown Beau-Bassin, a few years ago during one of my visits.  We reminisced about the good old CPE days, talked about where the other students from our class were, and the various career paths we had chosen.  His passion for teaching had not changed and he was very proud of our accomplishments.

Thank you, Monsieur César, for these formative years at Philippe Rivalland RCA and for being a great teacher.

May your soul rest in peace.

Yiagadeesen (Teddy) Samy - Associate Professor,
Carleton University Ottawa, Canada

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