allAfrica.com: Mauritius: Rising up to today's educational challenges (Page 1 of 1)

Despite the difficulties and hurdles, some teachers have a passion for this "noble profession". The day devoted to celebrate them is a golden opportunity to look into the motivations of some who want to make a difference.

The future teachers of the Mauritius Institute of Education were getting ready to celebrate Teachers' Day in Octave Wiehe Auditorium in Réduit today.

"It is a dream becoming reality." Shoueib Bunnoo is not joking. He, who has always been "fascinated by this profession", will be starting his career as a primary school teacher in June 2009. Meanwhile, Shoueib is making the most of his years at the Mauritius Institute of Education (MIE). He is aware that there are difficulties ahead but he strongly believes that "young recruits like him are the ones who will make a difference".

Vilma Rivalland is also studying to the same end. "I had the chance of having good teachers who dedicated their time to help me in my studies. I would like to do the same for others." She spent some time in the private sector and took her time to decide the change in career. "But it has then become obvious that I was made for this job. In view of the problems in the sector where many pupils still do not have the required level at the secondary school, I wanted to try and bring some changes at the bottom line."

Not bothered by low salary

Undeniably, the teaching profession is not as attractive as it may have been in the sixties. Rada Tirvassen, senior lecturer at the MIE, does not mist over this fact when he acknowledges: "With the economic development after the seventies and the emerging sectors, there have been a rising number of professional opportunities for university graduates. School can't compete with the salaries and even the professional development of other jobs so it is a fact that this profession tends to attract fewer and fewer people."

However, Shoueib Bunnoo is one among the few who are still more excited about doing their job than bothered by the low salary it will obviously bring him. He agrees that the salary is not very attractive - even "compared to the ones of teachers in secondary schools" - but he nevertheless keeps his stand of becoming a teacher. What he particularly likes in his profession is "the strong relationship built between an adult and a five-year old child. There can be such complicity between them". It is also the feeling of Vilma Rivalland who thinks: "It is up to us to organise ourselves with our salaries."

Yet, being a teacher is not exactly restful especially at the moment. "It is much more difficult to be a teacher today than it was a few years back," comments Rada Tirvassen. "School does not have the same important status today and inherits social problems that society itself can't tackle." Another senior lecturer, Hyleen Mariaye, points out: "With mass education, teachers have in their classrooms students not only with mixed abilities but also from various socio-economic backgrounds and different attitudes to learning."

The MIE is there to try and prepare them in the best possible way to survive in that environment. There is an evolution in the theory of teaching and new teachers have to be equipped to follow the new trends according to Rada Tirvassen. "They are urged to be up-to-date through personal research but also through conferences and research done by the institute." Hyleen Mariaye confirms. "Knownledge becomes obsolete very fast. Teachers have to keep abreast with these changes if they are to maintain their credibility in the classroom."

For Shoueib Bunnoo, the MIE prepares them quite well for this. "Like in any other organisation, there are strengths and weaknesses. But I believe that teachers will then have to bring their own personal touch to their classroom when they start working."

From what she learnt at the MIE, Vilma Rivalland always keeps in mind that the child must be at the centre. "We are not only meant to give them academic knowledge. The development of the child's personality is equally important."

The Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), which have increasingly become an integral part of today's world are another challenge for teachers. "This is because of the tensions between school and ICT. In fact, integrating ICT in class should help arousing children's interest in school", Rada Tirvassen explains. Hyleen Mariaye is of the same opinion. "For the intelligent and reflective teacher, ICT are a good learning support."

Awaken pupils' curiosity

This matches quite well with the future teacher's vision of teaching. "The MIE taught us the principle of discovery learning and this is how I see it. I want to awaken the curiosity of pupils to a subject to arouse their interest in school" Shoueib said. For Vilma, the idea is not to be "friendly with pupils but to make them comfortable so that they will make the most of what is being taught to them".

Rada Tirvassen castigates the systematic denial of the traditional approach. "What is old and traditional is not inevitably wrong", he points out. Obviously society is moving forward and teachers need to follow the trend but they also need to rely on the basics of education before adding new pedagogic approaches. This may well in fact be the main challenge of this noble profession.

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