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Minister Gokhool builds bridge with Clavis
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Minister Gokhool builds bridge with Clavis
The prime minister, Navin Ramgoolam, mentioned it during his visit to a private school a few days ago; the minister of Education, Dharam Gokhool, confirmed it during his visit to Clavis primary school last Friday. Both public and private schools would benefit from a partnership. “In the context of the reform we have launched since we have been in power such a partnership would not only be desirable but also necessary,” said the minister at the end of his visit.
During his short speech at morning assembly, Dharam Gokhool conceded that “quality education is a long journey and we still have a long way to go” and this is why a “strong vibrant partnership” between the sectors would be an excellent way of allowing each party to share their experiences and learn from each other. The response of the school was immediately positive, as headmaster Nicholas Hamer quickly replied that “officers of the ministry would at all times be most welcome to see how our classes work…” This was precisely the aim of the minister’s visit on that Friday morning.
After the brief «official” part at the beginning, the remaining hour was held in a friendly and quite relaxed atmosphere. Minister Gokhool appeared very accessible to the children who were able to ask him questions and explain to him the lesson they were having at the time of his visit.
After explaining the difference between efficient and effective, the minister took great pleasure in answering a pupil’s question about “how he is making sure he is efficient as a minister”. After the whole class and staff present burst out laughing, the minister obviously took a certain pleasure explaining how he had his day organised and concluded, “and at night I just stop and reflect about what I have done and what I could have done”.
The minister continued his visit by going into one class of each level under the guidance of the school director and with plenty of interaction with pupils. The most striking thing about the minister’s visit was the facility with which pupils answered questions and were so communicative whoever was in front of them. This may be the result of communication being at the centre of the school culture.
No spoon-feeding education</B>
Clavis school is actually not a “traditional” school where children are taught how to read and write by a teacher standing in front of them and spoon feeding them with information. At Clavis, the pupil is an integral part of the learning process. After their six years in school, the children should strive to be “inquirers, knowledgeable, thinkers, communicators, principled, open-minded, risk-takers, balanced, caring, reflective”.
Even though Clavis is an English medium school, teachers are very cautious to use the mother language of students for interaction between them and to help them understand a concept. This makes learning easier when they can use the three languages and allows all pupils to interact and build up their reflections.
Clavis being a primary school under the International Baccalaureate Organisation in Switzerland, it “should be proud to send out into the adult world students who exemplify the qualities expressed in this profile”.
This might be the main lesson public education could learn from private schools. Instead of following the programme in books, pupils should be given the opportunity to reflect and take part in the learning process so that they are always active and are prepared for the future world. This might be the main weakness of the present system and such a change should definitely form part of the curriculum reform to achieve world-class education.
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