Having watched Honourable Gokhool?s exposé on MBC TV on 1st March, I was very pleased to hear that his main objective was to provide ?acess to quality education to all children of Mauritius? and that ?no child will be left behind?. However, we, parents of children now in Forms I to IV in ?regional? schools are very bitter and disillusioned because we feel that our children have been left behind. No mention whatsoever has been made about them in the minister?s exposé about the educational reform. They have been totally ignored.

The implementation of the reform by the previous government put us before a fait accompli and our opinion and views did not count in the least. In choosing schools for our children, we had to select from building sites and many of our children had to co-habit with builders and the ensuing cacophony. No laboratories were available and it is only gradually that amenities are being set up. Even Mr. Gokhool has agreed that ?Form IV students have no labs?. Facilities are still lacking and there is not even a hall for morning assembly or to receive parents. Now, with the new reform, we are at a loss and feel that our children are being penalised if they have to stay in a budding ?regional? school for the rest of their school careers where even very basic resources are unavailable. The ?regional? schools were conceived to accommodate students from Forms I to V and I feel that they will never equal so-called ?national? schools unless a gigantic effort is made to build more laboratories and other basic amenities such as gymnasiums and school halls.

To correct the injustice that our children have been subjected to, I feel that they should have the RIGHT to be admitted to ?national? colleges after Form V under the same terms and conditions stipulated in the previous reform. I believe this is a perfectly legitimate demand and it is the only way not to further penalise our children.

There is already a deep feeling of frustration and anguish amongst us, parents, because we feel that some students are already favoured. The ministry of Education and Human resources has carried out certain transfers very discreetly; for example, Form IV girls from Ebene SSS have joined Queen Elizabeth College this year. Why are they the chosen and privileged ones??? Is it merely because of geographical proximity? We would all have liked our children to integrate the glorious ?national? colleges of excellence. Already, we feel a sense of deprivation and injustice and hope that these transfers are only temporary and that the children will return to their original schools in the very near future.

As Mr Gokhool rightly declared, ?Quality is a journey?, but we feel that we cannot wait for the journey to end as the SC exams are coming fast for those admitted to ?regional? schools from 2003 to 2006. I hope that Mr Gokhool will keep his promise: ?we are not forgetting anybody? and that he does not ignore and forsake our children and that, at the very least, he gives them the chance to be admitted to our glorious «national» schools of excellence. We do not want our children to be sacrificed on the altar of reform, be it Mr Obeegadoo?s reform or Mr Gokhool?s reform. I know that Mr Gokhool is ?a man of dialogue? and I am sure that he will take my plea into urgent consideration.

<B>Dr Lailah B. Fakim</B>