Let us remind ourselves that education is a basic human right and a key contributor to harmonious development and a prosperous future of any individual. Hence the necessity to give access to good quality education, during the formative years, to each individual child/youth. The home and pre-school will strive together to ensure the desired profile for the child as he/she enters formal schooling at age five.

The main requirements for this to happen (i.e. providing quality education for all from five to sixteen) lies in answering adequately these six basic curriculum questions as posed to African educators in the 1970s ( by Yoloye&Atchia, at the African Curriculum Organisation, ACO, Forum, Lagos,1979) ), namely:

1 Whom to teach

2 Where to teach

3 Who is to teach

4 What to teach

5 How to teach

6 With what end aim. ( i.e. why teach this)

“Whom to teach” is already defined : all children of 5-16 of the Republic.

“Where to teach” implies the provision of sufficient number of well-equipped schools so that everyone is guaranteed a seat – a requirement successfully tackled by the last government.

“Who is to teach” and “How to teach” refer to teachers, their training and use of pedagogies appropriate to each learning situation.

“What to teach” is answered by the development of a coherent, continuous but flexible National Curriculum covering the identified learning needs of children in the defined age range with, several different streams as necessary, to cater for different abilities and needs.

Remains the last question “With what end aim?”. This is a crucial political (or socio-political) question, which must be adequately answered as part of the process of developing a national curriculum. Rephrased, that question reads as follows:

Assuming 11 years of schooling does contribute very strongly (in the closest partnerships with parents and community) to the formation of the “new” Mauritian citizen of tomorrow when he/she completes compulsory schooling at 16, what do we wish him/her to be?

The answer to this question, reached through in-depth debate between all the stakeholders in education (that is everybody!) will become the statement of “fundamental” principles guiding a future NC.

It is ethically important that the aim of education be clearly and consensually defined, shared and accepted, since government has acquired the legal rights to keep all children from five to sixteen at school: their stay at school during these 11 years must therefore be made worthwhile in terms of personal development and culture, acquisition of valid and valuable knowledge and skills and the prospect of a successful future for each child.

The NC provides for all children, irrespective of social background, culture, religion, differences in ability (or disability) an entitlement to a number of areas of learning, suitably graded, coherent in totality, delivered using appropriate pedagogies in suitable environments, with the desired outcomes in mind. It includes expectations for attainment, i.e. well-defined national performance standards for each set of partners: learners, teachers, parents, administrators and public and for each area of learning.

<B>Dr. Michael ATCHIA</B>