The new school year is beginning in a very morose mood. Students - and especially those sitting for the Certificate of Primary Education (CPE) exams this year - resume school this week knowing that they are in for a tough time… While most people thought that the ranking system, which inevitably led to a “rat race”, had been banished forever, the decision of the cabinet last Friday came as a great shock for the education community. “Cabinet has agreed to the criteria for admission to the national colleges (…) on the basis of performance in the four best subjects nation-wide.” It seems that we’re dangerously close to going back to square one…

Defenders of the new system like Sutthyhudeo Tengur, the president of the Government Hindi Teachers’ Union, are not so common. He is of the opinion that “if there is no competition in education, we won’t be able to become competitive at the international level. As from now, every child will have a place according to his/her abilities”. Likewise, Sam Durgauhee, of the PTA of Remi Ollier B, firmly believes that a “dose of competition is important. The elite must not be destroyed. It has to be identified and encouraged as young as possible. It is the parents’ responsibility to make sure their children are not suffering too much from an overdose of competition.”

Parents are indeed a big part of the problem. They are sometimes even more stressed than the children themselves and are the ones to put on even more pressure to make sure their children will have a place in one of the “star schools” – the ones which are supposed to “create” laureates. The concept of the rat race is so firmly anchored in everyone’s minds that parents do not want their children to lag behind.

This is one of the reasons why most people and bodies involved in education appeared so shaken by the news. While the director of the Bureau of Catholic Education, Hervé de St-Pern finds it “sad and unfair”, others like Harris Bachwa, member of the Federation of managers of private secondary schools, or Denis Grandport of the FPTAEC, are anxious about this change, the more so as no one knows the exact form it will take.

No prizes for guessing the reaction of the ‘father’ of the reform. Former minister of Education, Steven Obeegadoo, worked very hard during his mandate to abolish the ‘rat race’ and ensure that children were less stressed by the CPE exams. After learning of the cabinet decision, he expressed his disappointment. “We have spent the last 20 years discussing ways and means of eliminating ranking and ‘supercompetition’ with it. We achieved it in 2002. Now we’re back to square one.”

The Labour party had, of course, stated during the electoral campaign that it would find a way of reinstating a dose of competition in the school system to make sure Mauritius has an elite. But as soon as he became minister of Education, Dharam Gokhool, seemed to have calmed things down. “I want to make it clear that the reintroduction of ranking is out of the question.”

Although the word “ranking” has not been mentioned and the criteria for admission to the national colleges have not been clarified yet, there is no doubt that the government is going back to the old formula. This will once again create “robot-children”, who will be worked silly by textbooks and private lessons to make sure they get a seat in a “star school”.

At a time when the ministry is making a lot of fuss about curriculum reform that would allow children to be more open and eager to learn in an intelligent way, such a decision appears suicidal for the education system.

<I>“The forum of the minister last year with stakeholders of the education sector to reflect on eventual changes to achieve a more modern and efficient curriculum appears as nothing more than a joke.”</I>

In such a context, the forum organised by the minister of Education at the end of last year with stakeholders of the education sector to reflect on eventual changes to achieve a more modern and efficient curriculum appears as nothing more than a joke. Yet there seems to be a consensus that the curriculum is outdated and needs revamping. The minister has made a plea for a total reshuffle of the way subjects are taught and of the curriculum.

But what is needed is a real change towards progress – not this kind of change.

A former teacher at St-Esprit College, Afjul Aullear, recently explained that the greatest difficulty in education today is the fact that “we tend to look only for results. Children are spoon-fed with textbooks and private tuition to make sure they will pass their exams. There is no more room for creativity and the development of critical acumen today.” Even with the 2002 reform, parents, children (but also teachers) seemed to be locked in a system they couldn’t change. No need to say that with the comeback of ranking, things will be even more difficult.

Moreover, this decision will certainly lead to more debate over the inclusion of oriental languages - which we thought was over for good. The same old arguments about whether a child doing oriental languages will be at an unfair advantage compared to another who does not will start again. As the four best results will be taken into account, children doing an oriental language will be said to have an advantage compared to others.

Progress means looking forward… Not looking back with nostalgia to a system that has proved that it did not serve the interests of the main people concerned… the children!