● What are the reasons for this year?s drop in the results of the Certificate of Primary Education (CPE)?

The success rate in the CPE results has indeed decreased this year. With the 66.17% obtained, the trend is now downward while it had been on the rise since 2003. According to the minister of Education, this drop is partly due to the new approach of the Mauritius Examinations Syndicate (MES) ? which prepared the exam papers ? this year ?by putting more emphasis on critical analysis because there is a need for going beyond rote learning?.

● Will the government come forward with its total reform of the system?

The minister of Education, Dharam Gokhool, made it clear that his ministry was working on a total change in the methods of assessment to eventually abolish the CPE. ?All this will take time but the process is now on,? he said.

● What could be done until then?

For the MES director, Lucien Finette, there should be a complete mind-shift in the way work is done in the classroom. The last CPE exams showed that pupils had difficulty to reflect, analyse and interpret what they had learnt. Most candidates content themselves with spitting out the knowledge learned by heart. ?We need to change the teaching methods as well as the curriculum content,? suggested the director of the Bureau of Catholic Education (BEC), Gilberte Chung.