Over the past few years successive governments have introduced several educational reforms in Mauritius for a number of reasons such as replacing the Certificate of Primary Education (CPE) and changing the format in accordance with the philosophy of competency-based testing, introduction and implementation of A+, abolition of the CPE and replacing it with the Primary School Achievement Certificate (PSAC) and finally, the introduction of the Nine Year Schooling. The aims of these reforms were and should have been: to improve the teaching and learning process, diminish the extreme pressures faced by the students and most importantly, improve the actual performance of students.

These were bold initiatives which should have done the trick, but in fact it did not. But despite a lot of discussions by politicians and others and despite numerous papers from all quarters, nothing concrete materialised. Proposed reforms, at the end of the day, depend on the good will of the ruling government and its political appointees. And unfortunately, changes in education are more often motivated by the whims and rivalries of ministers than by what would be beneficial to students. In Mauritius each new government seems to have an irresistible need to show that what was done by the previous governments need to be immediately removed and replaced.  Every new government tries to reinvent the wheel. This is the line of thinking that led to the A+. It is not surprising that most of the proposed educational reforms have never taken off, never been properly implemented, never been properly monitored and never been successful.

The more we think of the education reforms the more we begin to realise it is just a change in the name and the content has remained the same all along. The concerted effort is not to develop the students but just to mislead the public by showing that percentage passes are going up while the quality of education and examination results are very poor and cause for concern. This has resulted in teaching to test which has become the national norm.

Despite these initiatives and despite all the best endeavours, it seems we have reached a deadlock. We still have around 30% of those taking the PSAC examination classified as failures every year. And there are more concerns. The latest School Certificate results make grim reading. Of the 18659 students who took part in the November 2019 examinations, 5518 (29.6%) students got 5 or more credits. That is 3 out of 10 students who took part in the examination. The news gets alarming and grimmer. A total of 4461 students did not get any credits. It also means that 13141 students must find alternative route to continue their studies or retake their examinations.     

There is talk of a crisis and we seem not to have identified and tackled the root of the problem. Suddenly, there is panic. Do we blame the Minister and the officials? Is it the parent’s faults? Or are the teachers the real culprits? I think fingers should be pointed primarily at the Ministry and to a certain extent at the Mauritius Examinations Syndicate for the mess we are in.  

Lately, several solutions have been put forward by educationists and others concerned with the disastrous performance results to redress this awful situation we find ourselves in. My intention is to continue the debate in the same vein to find out where we are going wrong and to offer plausible answers and remedies.

In my opinion, there are several issues that need to be addressed as a matter of urgency to develop the student and improve their performances. The main ones are as follows:

Abolish Primary School Achievement Certificate

The introduction of Nine-Year Schooling was a very positive step forward, a blessing even. It was a golden opportunity to get rid of the CPE dinosaur.  Around 30% of those taking the CPE examination were classified as failures every year.  Not many countries in the world subject their students to such pressures. Our students deserve better; every student matter in this world irrespective of whether he/she is an under-achiever or higher achiever. But we did not really get rid of the CPE. Instead, we introduced another but similar, even worse may be, examination which is known as PSAC. Having a similar examination at the end of primary schooling means, competition for the places has not diminished. The rat race is still on. Is it necessary to have an examination at the end of primary level when we have enough good schools in every zone? Are we admitting that the complicated zoning system has not worked?   Is it necessary to have two examinations within two years, one at the end of primary level and the other at the end of Form III? It’s no wonder teachers are spending most of their time preparing students for examinations (teach to test) and less on teaching and student development?

My suggestion would be to abolish the PSAC examination altogether and let students progress to secondary schools in their region and then assess them at the end of their Nine-Year Schooling. One of the important advantages of having the national assessment at the end of Form III would mean that 30% of our students would not be identified as failures at the tender age of 11.  With proper feedback and remediation all along the different grade levels, those who are found to be less gifted academically should be given an alternative path to fulfilment and success. This is logical, sensible and feasible and more importantly in the interest of the students.

Introduce Diagnostic Tests and Remedial Teaching

Abolishing the PSAC is only the beginning. There is an important and fundamental issue which we need to address and that is to diagnose students who are performing poorly and provide appropriate remediation. There should not be automatic promotion to the next level as is the case now. Instead, students who are performing poorly must be provided with relevant remedial assistance until they are ready to move to the next appropriate level. 

We need to introduce diagnostic tests which are major means to measure the level of achievement or learning of the students.  Through these tests the weaknesses and difficulties of students in the subjects may be revealed. The functions of a teacher closely resemble with the functions of a medical practitioner. The functions of a medical practitioner are diagnosis, prescription and evaluation. The teachers have also to perform these functions. They must diagnose the weakness of students and the factors responsible for it. Based on the diagnoses, remedial teaching should be provided, and the student’s progress monitored. Like the medical officer, if desired success is not achieved, the process is repeated. Failing that, an alternative remedy is sought. Teacher training should be reassessed and modified if necessary or like other countries there should be specially trained remedial teachers. Class teachers would be able to refer students with difficulties to them.

To implement and achieve the above, not only do we need specialist teachers in every school but also the will, desire and determination of the teachers with the support of the Ministry. Ultimately, there is the question of extra budget.

Reduce the Size of the Class

Research into the impact of class size on student achievement has been ongoing for decades. Despite some disagreement about the cost effectiveness of small class size, most researchers agree that it does have a positive impact, particularly on students in early classes.  Some benefits of a small class size include the following:

• More customized instruction: In small classes it is easy for teachers to identify the specific problems that each student is facing.  This becomes a major challenge for teachers in large classes.
• Better teacher/student relationships: For a student, individual attention can make the difference between effectively developing skills and just coasting along. Generally, it is easy to establish stronger relationships with their instructors in small classes. 
• Classrooms can become more collaborative: In smaller classes, students will engage with each other and form relationships. The effect is a cohesive group of students who support and learn from one another. This is not possible in large classes.
• Teachers stick around: Small class sizes make it easier to manage the learning environment and give teachers a sense of pride in the classroom.
• Topics can be explored in-depth: Small class sizes let teachers spend more time with instruction rather than discipline and organization and with fewer students in the classroom, teachers can explore topics in-depth and expand on themes that students show interest in. 

Stop the use of Kreol in the teaching and learning process

There has been a few who have been advocating for the use of Kreol as medium in the teaching and learning process in the lower primary classes. The last few years has seen a change in the government policy with the promotion of its national language (Kreol) in the education system with the hope of improving performance of pupils. Nowadays, in most classrooms, a combination of Kreol, French, and English are used for several purposes but more precisely to facilitate easier comprehension with pupils who have little or no knowledge of English language.  Use of Kreol in the education system raises several issues:

• Is it a wise move when our students are already struggling in English Language at School Certificate and Higher School Certificate levels?
• When all teaching materials, examinations and further schooling are in English.
• When nearly all the subjects studied at primary and secondary levels are taught in English.
• When English is needed beyond schooling in Mauritius to obtain access to highly paid and more highly valued occupations.
• Will not the use of Kreol in the schools lead to the delay and hampering of the understanding and writing of English?  Already, the percentage of students getting a credit in English is very low, around 20%, each year.
• Our students have to compete with the best in the world be it in the universities and/or workplaces. In most universities and workplaces in Australia, Canada, Africa, United Kingdom and the United States, the language spoken is English. Would our students not be at a disadvantage if they are not proficient enough in English? Would they not be at a disadvantage if they have taken employments in a foreign country where English is widely spoken.  
• In the course of my academic work in the United Kingdom, I have come across several students who did extremely well at Higher School Certificate level examinations. Some were even awarded scholarships by our government but some of their written assessments are literal translation of Kreol. For example, a student wrote ‘The man was a heavy weight for the institution’ when it should have been ‘The man was a burden to the institution’. I take it he meant ‘heavy weight’ for ‘poid lourd’.

Provide options to students taking School Certificate examinations

There is no dispute that the percentage of credits obtained by students at School Certificate level have been decreasing over the last few years. This year’s results were even more worrying and alarming. And with the government’s policy to only admit students with 5 credits to Lower VI, there is uncertainty for a large proportion of students with four or less credits. Either they retake the School Certificate examinations or move towards the technical or vocational route. Or they may decide to leave schooling altogether.

One solution would be to allow students to sit half the number of the subjects in June and the remaining half in November. Another option would be to allow students to take SC examinations in 2 years as it is the case in Singapore. This arrangement will give the students more time to prepare and practice for their examinations. Stress and pressure would be diminished. Examinations will be taken at two sittings rather than one as now. In UK, students are allowed two or three stings to accumulate their grades. Why not in Mauritius?   

If this proposal is accepted and implemented, there will be implications for the recruitment of civil servants and other employees including the enrolment of students at universities and higher education institutes. Currently, the requirement is to have 5 credits at one sitting. These will have to be altered accordingly.

Another possible solution: not all the 13141 (70.4%) of the 18659 students who did not obtain five credits would want to embark on technical and or vocational courses. Introduction of evening classes to prepare and give students another chance to retake the School Certificate level examination.          

Introduce Teacher Assessment at primary and secondary levels

There are ways in which examination and assessment can be used to help address the problems with writing in English given its impact on other subjects like Mathematics and Science. I believe it must be rethought and revised to really test the ability to understand and communicate. We need to attach a lot of importance to language knowledge use rather than language knowledge. For example, if we want to test a person’s driving skills, would we ask the driver questions on how to start the engine, change gear and so on or would we go for a ride with the driver in Port Louis?  Likewise, when we want to know if a pupil is competent in a language, we should test his ability to use the language which subsumes knowledge of grammar and vocabulary and other competencies. Similarly, a pupil can answer correctly the intricate rules of grammar above all if they are tested in discrete i.e separate contexts using the multiple-choice format but be unable to use the language. We have seen cases of even our laureates unable to communicate. We need, therefore, to introduce a component of teacher assessment with a well thought out plan for a more reliable and valid assessment and to test those skills which cannot be tested in an external examination.

We need to ensure that more pupils write the composition.  This technique was tried by UNESCO/UNICEF on its survey of literacy and numeracy and life skills in Standard 4 pupils whereby the definition of literacy included minimum acceptable levels in both reading and writing.  The same principle can be applied by teachers at primary and secondary levels. 

The use of this kind of weighting in scoring would make it compulsory for students to score a certain number of marks in each of the important skills namely, Reading and Writing and Vocabulary & Grammar to pass the examination. This would ensure that students who move from one level to another are indeed literate.  As it stands presently students can go up each level whether they are literate or not. Is it not high time for the Mauritius Examinations Syndicate to take weighting in scoring into account when setting their examination papers? Is it too much to ask?

This grid can easily be refined and extended by a technical committee to establish proper boundaries for a pass. 

A tentative grid may be like this:

			<p>&nbsp;</p>
		</td>
		<td style="width:151px;height:28px;">
			<p>Proposed pass marks</p>
		</td>
	</tr>
	<tr>
		<td style="width:155px;">
			<p>Reading</p>
		</td>
		<td style="width:129px;">
			<p align="center">40</p>
		</td>
		<td style="width:151px;">
			<p align="center">&nbsp;</p>
		</td>
		<td style="width:151px;">
			<p align="center">Minimum of 20</p>
		</td>
	</tr>
	<tr>
		<td style="width:155px;">
			<p>Writing</p>
		</td>
		<td style="width:129px;">
			<p align="center">30</p>
		</td>
		<td style="width:151px;">
			<p align="center">&nbsp;</p>
		</td>
		<td style="width:151px;">
			<p align="center">Minimum of 15</p>
		</td>
	</tr>
	<tr>
		<td style="width:155px;">
			<p>Grammar/Vocabulary</p>
		</td>
		<td style="width:129px;">
			<p align="center">30</p>
		</td>
		<td style="width:151px;">
			<p align="center">&nbsp;</p>
		</td>
		<td style="width:151px;">
			<p align="center">Minimum of 5</p>
		</td>
	</tr>
	<tr>
		<td style="width:155px;">
			<p>Total</p>
		</td>
		<td style="width:129px;">
			<p align="center">100</p>
		</td>
		<td style="width:151px;">
			<p align="center">40</p>
		</td>
		<td style="width:151px;">
			<p align="center">40</p>
		</td>
	</tr>
</tbody>

Million Dollar Questions

• Do we want to keep reforming our education without any success as has been the case in the past few years?
• What is the goal of the various reforms?
• How genuine and sincere are the politicians in reforming our education system?
• Why a certain percentage of students passing the PSAC can’t read or write?
• Are there flaws in our examination system? What is MES doing about it?   
• Do we work together to improve our education system towards this world class education which is reiterated all the times by our politicians?
• Or do we want to continue to boast of misleading pass rates and keep fooling the members of the public?
• Why are there such an increase in the number private schools with very high school fees? Is this an admission that our education system is of poor quality?
• Who attends these schools and most importantly, which school those of our leaders’ children go to and why?
• Are we not creating different categories of students and a system where the rich escape to the best and the public system remains stagnated?

Education is vital and extremely important for our students and our country. It produces our future leaders and the future of our country.  Use the right instrument to identify their strengths and weaknesses and provide the right remedies to certify them and we are on the right track to produce the very best. Juggle with names and leave the rest the same, unlike the clown in a traveling circus we won’t elicit laughter but tears and tragedy for generations to come.