In spite of what the experts gathered in Paris recently at the Unesco International Conference may have concluded, I should like to maintain there is nothing «evil» in private tuition. If the seminar has unanimously declared that private tuition is gaining ground all over the world, we obviously cannot disregard this phenomenon. But we have to, despite the conclusive statement of the seminar, reflect that there must be something bizarre in this «love-hate relationship» regarding private tuition. Love-hate in that there is a proposal to ban it, and yet it is cherished all over the world. It is rather the abuse of private tuition that should be targeted and deemed evil - the implication being that some teachers consider the practice as a means of maximising financial income rather than helping needy learners to improve their knowledge. In this kind of situation there is a clash of interests, so to say, between teachers and learners - the ones wishing to improve knowledge, while the others? aim is to exploit the clients by whatever means. For this reason, it is high time to cure the abuse rather than tagging private tuition itself, giving it a bad name. It is unfair to point an accusing finger at private tuition when it is justifiably catered for. So many people take private tuition with specific po-sitive intentions like, among others:

1. Learning an unknown language.

2. Making up for felt weaknesses in certain areas of study.

3. Polishing one?s power of oratory.

We may all accept the conclusion of the Association for the Development of Education in Africa that private tuition is among the main flaws in our system. This is obviously because private tuition in Mauritius is too often linked to the aspiration for the highest competitive results, be it at the Certificate Of Primary Education or the Cambridge Higher School Certificate. Note that the target intentions are far from what I have enumerated above. In fact, there is nothing but good in private tuition per se. It is when the motivation of parents and pupils alike is directed towards the forceful acquisition of rank in the existing fierce competition of the final examinations, that private tuition takes the distorted turn towards being dangerously harmful. On the basis of supply and demand, the teachers are available to deliver the goods, and most parents do not foresee the disaster that it can cause to their progeny.

It is not the abolition of CPE exams that can dismantle private tuition practice. It is so easy to declare that private tuition will die a natural death at the demise of the CPE exams. The expected adverse reaction from parents at such an abolition has to be foreseen. It is convenient to say that abolition will bring about the desirable solution. We have to gauge the possible adverse reactions from anti-abolitionists. It was Voltaire who said that, if there were no god, man would have invented one. As far as schooling is concerned, we are so immersed in our faith in competitive exams that the majority, I believe, won?t appreciate the disappearance of the CPE. Final examinations have long existed as the yardstick for measuring both pupils? ability and the rank they can achieve for promotion or scholarship purposes. Abolishing examinations may be tantamount to laying sacrilegious hands on the «sacred cow» that is education, the way the responsible parties see it.

<B>Unable to vote referendum in an enlightened way</B>

The suggestion by the directorate of the Bureau d?Education Catholique, that there should be a referendum on the CPE (Week-end 29-Apr-2007) is a myth and a far-fetched hypothesis that can lead nowhere near to the improvement in education. This is because many parents are unable to vote the suggested referendum in any enlightened way, for the good reason that their understanding, or the absence of it, cannot help them make any lucid judgment. I am confident that quite a number of people would agree. Hence abolish CPE, or introduce a law against private tuition, and people will invent a new brand of it. They will, like water flowing downstream that cannot be stopped, find another way to perpetuate private tuition under a different name. It is and will remain an everlasting practice with the following aim:

1. Get admission to the best of secondary schools

2. Get admission to university level after school.

3. Improve general performance and knowledge.

The teachers are available to cater for the students. What we have to guard against is competition that is too fierce to bear. At that stage, it can be detrimental to the development of the person in the child. The result may be dama-ging in every sense of the term. Whereas competition in itself is good and desirable since it can, through its element of challenge, result in motivating students in their academic performance. We all believe in competition and it is here to stay. But the system should devise a way of monitoring the dose of it to protect it from overflowing to dangerous levels.

Pauline Etienne rightly says (see l?express 24th July 2007 ) that «private tuition is absolute nonsense if it?s only a repetition of what is supposed to have been done in class». Hence, we have to get rid of that «repetition» aspect. We have to see to it that private tuition is for coaching in addition to already known items. Then only can it be significantly contributive and acceptable as worthwhile.

<B>Andre WAN CHOW WAH</B> Associate Professor