The minister of Education has just announced a series of measures to implement a new curriculum to revamp education in Mauritius. Broadly, the document entitled “Towards a quality curriculum-strategy for reform” outlines several steps that would ultimately culminate in the elimination of the Certificate of Primary Education (CPE) in perhaps four years.

Among the most interesting measures of this document are the introduction of continuous assessment throughout the year, a national exam at Form III level, and a qualified emphasis on physical education, inter alia. Kudos to the minister for taking the bull by the horns and doing what must be done, although it seems a total waste of time and effort and money to have brought in the A+ only to scrap it down the road. A band-aid dressing for the price of major surgery.

What was the minister’s rationale for wanting to implement a new curriculum? “The CPE is the product of conditions in which Mauritius found itself after independence. If we want to offer an education that better meets the needs of our society, we must look into the system of evaluation. One of its objectives being the diagnosis of the child’s weaknesses so as to take corrective measures”, he comments.

This is very interesting. I gave an interview in l’express on August 28, 2005, shortly after the new government was sworn in. Headlined “The CPE must be scrapped”, this is what I said: “The education system has kept its post-independence foundation when the priority of the country was to make its citizens rapidly functional. Things have changed since then. The priorities of the country have changed. We now need citizens who can think, have initiative, and are creative.”

Continuing, one of the authors of the working document stated that “this reform won’t succeed without training and a mechanism that helps ongoing professional development. It is out of the question at secondary level that a degree holder, fresh from university, teaches without prior training in pedagogy. A Teacher’s Licence will be mandatory before joining the profession.”

In that same interview, asked what I would do if I were in charge, I suggested “… training of the teaching staff to give them a better mastery of languages and modern teaching methods. I would equip each school with a library worthy of that name to encourage reading, specially with boys.[…] At the same time, I would equip classrooms with modern teaching tools, starting with computers.” I further added that « other subjects should be introduced gradually – English, Maths and Sciences becoming compulsory up to the end of the primary level. There should also be more room for physical education.” Indeed, physical education will now be an integral part of primary education, in addition to: “At secondary level, IT will become another compulsory subject. Science will also be compulsory for those who do not choose the science stream. On the other hand, those who opt for science subjects will also study literature and social sciences.”

Perhaps, what would please parents and educators is the continuous assessment part and the national exam in Form III. Again, this is what I recommended in the interview: “The notion of examination itself should be banished from the first nine years of school. Instead, there would be an informal assessment system which would take place every three years to verify if the child is reacting well to the programme. The teacher would perform this assessment in the normal course of his/her work, so that the child does not even realise he/she is being assessed. As a result, parents will no longer feel the need to traumatise their wards with private tuition. The child will thus rediscover what childhood is.”

It is good to see that the minister of Education is receptive to new ideas.

<B>Saoud BACCUS</B><I>, Ph. D.</I> <I>[email protected]</I>