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Mauritius: Free education does not guarantee happy citizens
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L'Express (Port Louis)
27 November 2007
Posted to the web 27 November 2007
Alain Jeannot
Port Louis
It takes more than material considerations for a roof and four walls to turn into a home.Similarly free academic education does not on its own guarantee the formation of well balanced happy citizens.
"To lead out" is in itself a noble mission which aims at drawing the best out of students and children. Whether you want it or not, the notion of love which in itself embodies values such as trustworthiness, readiness to make sacrifices, honesty, loyalty, sincerity and dedication is an essential pillar upon which parents and educators need to rely.
Love has indeed its full place in the world of education. It is love which motivates dedicated teachers to for instance report suspected cases of child abuse with the risks that it implies.
It's also love in the form of justice which drives the authorities to ensure these teachers are given full protection and that the blameworthy are dealt with appropriately.
It's love which makes a responsible father and husband realise that abusing his wife or partner is not a way to address conflicts.
Love in the form of a responsible and considerate attitude towards her as a human being and mother of the children they both share drives him to realise that his behaviour is devastating for them all.
Did abused women including Angele Lecoq not recently report how adversely their situation impinged on their children's welfare and education on a radio programme ?
Cases like that of Angele,Kathidia and Mobavita reported in this "enquete en direct" are extreme yet quite frequent if we judge by the numerous S.O.S calls cascading upon Mr Salesse on that day. The praiseworthy intervention of two ministers on that issue is to be noted.
Yet there is even more abuse in well to do families which tends to be underestimated nowadays.
For example a divorce or separation may be a solution for parents but a source of great distress for a child. It would take too long to go into details, but it's as natural as it is instinctive for a child to aspire to having his parents living peacefully and lovingly under the same roof!!!
It may be understood that when this really can't be done, couples resort to divorce, though breaking their initial promise of living together for better or for worse.They sometimes pitifully choose to quit at the first threat of the worse
There again it's love in the form of patience, forgiveness and understanding between couples which ought to be their driving force.
Facilitating divorce procedures might be a good thing but it should not be considered as an easy way out for couples facing difficulties.
They should give themselves every chance to try again. More counselling facilities together with awareness campaigns might be helpful .
Child abuse in all its forms has an evil influence on education. The greatest gift we could therefore give to a child is a happy and loving family . All other considerations are but tributary to it. .
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Think about this as we approach Christmas!
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