We might be reluctant to admit it but the annual proclamation of laureates sends us ever so gently towards cognitive dissonance. We are confused as to whether we should celebrate the success stories of those who have joined the country’s elite or admonish a system that has left so many pupils behind.

We all love to root for the underdog. They are the ones that make the headlines, come on the radio shows and get an extension on their 15 minutes of fame. Every year, there are one or two laureates that meet this criteria and for a few days they are made to be a beacon of hope for our society. We had two perfect candidates this year in Rony Busviah and Sally Wong.

Make no mistake about it. In spite of the patronising tone that certain media reports took, what the laureates — and especially Busviah and Wong — have achieved, is a remarkable feat.  Busviah, as he put it, is a kid from Roche-Bois. He made his way into the elite regardless of the invisible barriers of social class.

Wong was equally impressive. Away from the star schools, she made her way into the Mauritian elite even though her parents are originally from China and struggle with the languages spoken on the island. In a contemporary world where immigration is often negatively perceived, we rightly felt that Wong was one of us. Regardless of what it meant to be Mauritian, she ticked all the boxes.

However, they are just the success stories that we love to cling on to. In 2017, approximately 12,000 pupils started in Grade 1. If we retain a similar education system until they finish school, about 40 of them will become laureates. One or two of them will join that prestigious list of success stories. What about all the others?

With every success story comes all the other hundreds of stories of children facing adversity and who could not make it. They won’t have their photos in the newspapers. They probably won’t go abroad for their studies. They will be left behind by the system, unable to keep up with the elitism of education in our island. We will forget about them with time. There is something inherently wrong with a system that allows that to happen.

It is not all negative though. The Rony Busviahs and the Sally Wongs of this world give us hope. Not hope that we are living in a better society but hope that we are striving towards it. Irrespective of how we feel about the education system, we need that hope. After all, one success story is better than none at all.  

Next year, we will have a different list, different names and different achievements. For an instant, we will be able to forget the deafening misery and injustice of our everyday lives and bask in the glory of the underdogs. For an instant, we will have hope.

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