Alain Jeannot
12 February 2008
Port Louis — In 1818, it was decided that the Mauritian student who performed best in the final secondary school exams, would be granted a scholarship then known as "la bourse d'Angleterre". This would enable him to pursue further studies in England at the expense of the British Empire.
We were then a British colony where slavery was a reality and where only those who were white and free could attend the few primary schools and the College Royal, sole secondary school on the island.Tertiary institutions were then non-existent !
Things have changed a lot since! The Mauritian population has not only grown from around 100,000 to more than 1.2 million, but we are now all free citizens of an independent republic which provides free primary and secondary education to all of its people without discrimination.
The recent list of laureates and those who ranked just behind them shows that racial discrimination is a thing of the past in Mauritius. We all can succeed provided we enjoy the right conditions.
The fact that the so-called small colleges have also done well shows that gradually students from all social classes are being given the opportunity to develop on a level playing field.
Yet, we certainly cannot be content with that golden crust. Looking further beneath ,we have to accept that, in general, those who have performed well in their HSC exams are those who live in affluent environments and families .
The latter were capable of providing them with both the psychological and material support needed to succeed .It would be hypocritical to overlook the fact that private tuition was in most cases a necessary evil.
Additionally, internet access, transport to and from tuition, extra curricular study materials, healthy and relaxing leisure facilities might also have contributed to making the difference. Can all families in Mauritius avail themselves of these costly allies?
Moreover can we be fully satisfied with the fact that 8,000 students out of the 27,000 who sat for CPE exams in 2007 failed this test ? Curiously enough, this figure equals that of the recent HSC passes. Does this mean that we are producing as many citizens incapable of grasping basic primary level academic skills as those who can hope to move on to the tertiary level?
Only 3,300 seats at UoM and UTM
Out of those who pass their HSC, less than 10% will go abroad for costly tertiary studies. Only around 3,300 seats are available at the UoM and UTM. What happens to the rest? There are still the possibilities of distance learning, self-teaching or availing oneself of the facilities provided for setting up a business. Otherwise one can join a workforce which unfortunately only seems to be giving a chance to lucky graduates.
The laureates deserve to be praised for their hard work and tremendous efforts but is this system not confirming the fact that our tertiary education is not developed enough to equal that of foreign countries? For how long will we indirectly accept our dependence on other states now that we are soon to celebrate the 40th anniversary of our independence?
Would it not be worthwhile to consider earmarking more money to further consolidate and diversify our tertiary education sector so that it can match others? This can be done at least at the first degree level, keeping the scholarships for post graduate projects as recently suggested by a local daily editor.
Furthermore, the number of places available could be increased hence satisfying the legitimate demands of prospective students.
Additionally, though laureates should be warmly congratulated for their performance, we sometimes focus more than we should on their performance to such an extent that we overshadow that of other candidates and other citizens of this island who also excel in other fields.
Would it not be worthwhile to pay even greater attention to the development of the arts and of sports, while concentrating even further on reducing the failure rate at CPE level?
Those 2 million tourists we are expecting in a few years are certainly not looking forward to being taught aspects of nanotechnology or nuclear physics in hotels during their stay but rather expect to be swayed by the best service and entertainment even money can't buy.
Think about it so we can aim at being a nation of laureates instead of producing just a few...
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