Mcl
21 August 2007
Port Louis — The hue and cry of students and lecturers of the University is legitimate. The decisions of the management of the University of Mauritius to change criteria for the dissertation at degree level and delocalise to nearby state secondary colleges are not wrong in themselves. The only point is that it is once more one of those piecemeal measures taken in the education sector without consulting those who are the most concerned -lecturers and students - and presenting them with a "fait accompli".
We have a tendency to mix issues when it comes to education and learning. Each minister of Education over the past three decades has come up with "his action plan and his reform". His successor has reversed his decisions without taking into account those most concerned - learners. And this goes on and we keep putting the cart before the horse.
We use good things for the wrong reasons. Of course, team work is a good way of teaching and encouraging cooperation because, in our global world, no one is independent. But it is being used to justify the unjustifiable. A dissertation is not an essential component of a degree course and if the university can no longer afford the cost of the individual dissertation, it could find other ways of assessment to replace it. But, first and foremost, it should have brainstormed its lecturing staff and consulted it to find a consensus before setting the cat among the pigeons by announcing it a week before the new academic year. Similarly, using classrooms in nearby schools to give some lectures is no big deal. I am certain that, once again, it is a question of lack of communication. Learning does not have to be confined to a campus.
In the meantime, our young people continue to get spoon-fed from primary through secondary and now tertiary. But children of this country know much about their rights without ever being taught their duties. This starts with parents who slave to give their kids Nike shoes and pocket money to go to Kentucky and never ask them to make their beds or wash up. There is less and less respect for teachers and adults. No wonder they want everything free - fees, transport, etc. It is clear they do not know the real cost of things and they are convinced that big Daddy should give it to them whatever the cost
The misery of it all is that, from top to bottom, everything is taken for granted and there is a breakdown in communication.
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