Raj Paneken
12 February 2008
Port Louis — Ever since he took office as minister of Education, Dharam Gokool has been crying from the rooftops that he will give our education the label of world class quality, which is tantamount to top-class standard.
He is already halfway through office and his label is still evading him like a mirage. He has never told us what he means by his world class quality education. Does he mean a high-level education for the intellectual elite or just certificate hunting and exam-orientation when we know that the quality of our education leaves a lot to be desired. Today we are churning out quantity at the expense of quality. The quality label has become a rare commodity. When Dharam Gokool adds his so-called 'world class' to a quality, which does not exist, is he not adding insult to injury? What is world class quality education when the language standard is on the downward trend. Each year more than 50% of SC candidates fail to score a credit in English Language. Last year only 1.1% scored a very good in English out of 17,000 candidates. The most they can do is secure a pass 7 or 8 in that subject. Is this world class quality? No! This is local-class quality! The quality label is definitely on the wane.
To generate an education of quality we should review our system from top to bottom. The whole mechanism will have to be overhauled and backed up with new legislation to tackle factors like indiscipline, the use of mobile phones at school, absenteeism, informal education, revamping of the linguistic level. These are some major hurdles for a quality education and still less for a world-class label. So long as these factors exist at school, Dharam Gokool can only be dreaming of his world class quality education. Our standard of education will be moving from bad to worse if these problems are not tackled and eliminated. They are the stumbling blocks for a quality education.
- Growing indiscipline
One of the major hurdles for quality education is growing indiscipline at school, especially in State Secondary Schools where the situation is getting out of hand. School is synonymous with discipline. We cannot expect quality education if there is no discipline. Teaching and learning rest on that pillar. In the absence of effective discipline, the performance of the school suffers. It is high time to provide our schools with discipline masters. Each level of a SSS should have a discipline master. His role would be to monitor the behaviour of students, their language, way of dressing, punctuality, and be ready to intervene in any class disturbance. This should be partnered with class civism and moral values.
It is inadmissible and unscholarly to see boys attending school with their ears lined with earrings, with two or three necklaces round their necks along with a mop of dyed hair on their heads as if they are going to participate in a street carnival, or with a hood pulled down over their ears looking more like terrorists. Others come to school with facial piercing. The school management should insist on the school uniform, no more no less. A school without discipline is like a ship without a rudder drifting with no sense of direction. Without effective discipline, a school will never reach its objective.
To clamp down on growing indiscipline at school, which completely disrupts class management and puts a spoke in the wheel of teaching and learning, secondary schools should move on to camera surveillance in classrooms and on the school compound as is the case at City College where all classrooms are under camera surveillance. It allows a smoother running and more discipline in class. It helps both teachers and learners. Because once students are conscious that they are under camera surveillance, they behave properly since their behaviour is monitored and recorded and can be reviewed at any time.
- Mobile interference
The proliferation of cell-phones among the school population is another nail in the coffin of education. Today most students come to school with a mobile at the expense of their studies. They spend their time texting their friends and their attention is constantly taken up. They misuse them as tools of communication for urgencies. Many use them for dirty purposes like recording pornographic shows. The government should adopt legislation to impose a total ban on cell phones during school hours. The six hours spent at school should be earmarked for studies and school activities without any mobile interference.
The problem of absenteeism of students - namely Forms V and VI - has become a headache for parents and school management. The situation getting worse each year, especially in SSS where SC and HSC candidates barely complete their second term programmes on the pretext that they stay away to revise at home when the school syllabus is still under way.
Last year in June, a parent phoned me to say that her son who attended a SSS in the north came home almost daily at ten o'clock saying his class was sparsely attended and nothing was done. In June when work at school is in full swing and the syllabus not yet completed, classes are deserted! If nothing is done to remedy the situation, in future SC and HSC candidates will be attending classes only for the first term. They will use the rest of the school year to revise the "incomplete work". We just wonder what revision they do at home when we know that the most are left to themselves with parents working. And with all the distractions around them!
Civism and moral values should form part of the school curriculum to prepare our youth for the society of tomorrow. Those who join the teaching profession should be equipped with a good dose of educational psychology to give learners a balanced education. Because teaching does not mean writing figures and letters on the blackboard only. For example the school environment is a material element in the smooth running of the school. It should be protected against any vandalism since there are many students who dirty and deface it. If we see the condition of these brand new schools which have cost the state billions of rupees ! After chewing their gum, the students just stick or throw it anywhere. To shield the school environment from this dirty pollution, a total ban should be imposed on the chewing of gum.
English language is in very bad shape in secondary schools and something should be done before the rot sets in. In 2006, the British Council report on English mentioned a staggeringly mediocre level in our star schools along with an exceedingly poor standard in other secondary schools. Shortly after this report on the state of health of English language in secondary schools, "l'express" published an article saying that "Mauritius is the only Commonwealth country where English has regressed". So it is clear that English is in the intensive care unit.
To put it back on the rails, I suggest two things - first, an aggressive drive in favour of reading. So long as the school population are slaves to their distractions, reading will carry the can. Without intelligent and purposeful reading from the students, English will never pick up. I suggest that the ministry of Education makes literature in English compulsory up to Form V just to arouse students' interest in reading and help build up their vocabulary.
Along with reading, all English departments in secondary schools should give due attention to the teaching of grammar, which is given scant attention nowadays. We cannot expect the students to write good formal English if their knowledge of grammar is shaky and sketchy. It lies with the English teacher to teach grammar, which cannot be learnt at random but has to be taught.
These would be my obsessions, Mr Minister, if I were in your shoes. Unless you address these problems, your soi-disant world class quality education will only be a pipe dream.
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