For the second year in a row, the pupils who have reached their final year of PrevokBek are going to participate in a bilingual evaluation exercise using Kreol and English language. The examinations, organized by the Bureau de l?éducation catholique (BEC), are going to be held from 2nd to 11th July. About 200 students will participate.

Sure, it?s the second time that such examinations are held, but the catholic authorities added a slightly new flavour. This year, the BEC also proposes to its Prevokbek students to have a participation in mini-projects in Agriculture and Environment under supervision of their teachers. Among the subjects treated: recycling, food crisis and pollution.

?The bilingual formula is of great interest for the BEC because it allows its persons in charge to make the necessary observations to use for their research work which consists of developing a curriculum for primary schools which takes into account the use of mauritian Kreol in the learning process?, explains Jimmy Harmon, Project course coordinator.

Last year, the results were rather surprising. 76% of the participants, who failed Certificate of Primary Education (CPE) for the second time three years ago, succeeded at these exams which had a Form II standard. In details it gives: 75% success in English, 93% in Maths 82% in French, 92% in Integrated Science & Technical Studies, 72% in Creative Arts and 64% in Kreol.

These results even created an interest on the ministry of Education side, which was very reluctant in the beginning. It even refused to form part of a committee together with BEC at the beginning of the experience. The minister of Education, Dharam Gokhool, even confirmed this in Parliament last year.

But at the beginning of the year, a drastic change in attitude has been noticed. During the month of March, the ministry of Education even invited the catholic education authority to come and sit down to talk at length about the project. Dharam Gokhool proposed the setting up of a joint committee.

«Nothing definitive»

Even though the minister said that the joint committee doesn?t mean that the ministry has taken the decision to allow the usage of Kreol as a medium for learning, it still is considered as a major step ahead. ?There?s nothing definitive?, stated Dharam Gokhool after the meeting.

The joint committee, that includes officials of the ministry, BEC and the Mauritius Institute of Education, will have the task to examine the possibility to use Kreol as a medium in education, especially during the first years, on a widespread basis.

One must however admit that politicians have always been very cautious when talking of the use of mother language a as medium. Even so if its use has been proven to be of great use for children. UNESCO, the education arm of the United Nations, is very clear about that. ?Since effective learning depends on clear and understandable communication, the language of instruction is at the heart of any learning process. For this reason mother tongue-based instruction is crucial to providing children with early access to education and to enabling them to participate in learning process according to their evolving capacities?, wrote Sheldon Shaeffer, director UNESCO Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau of Education in a recent report.

He further indicated that ?there is a serious lack of recognition and understanding of the role that bi/multilingual education can play in increasing enrolment, retention and achievement in the formal school system?.

The Mauritian authorities prefer however to promote a system where the language used is English, although it?s the mother tongue of a very small minority of children. For a long time now, experts point out that the absence of mother tongue language is one of the main reasons of the 30% failure at CPE level every year.