By Pauline ETIENNE
28 February 2008
opinion
Port Louis — That the project is too confused to be implemented for the moment can be understood.
That education has specificities compared to other departments of the public sector is a fact. But such arguments should in no way become excuses to simply give up the idea of introducing performance appraisal into our education system.
We can understand that trade unions are anxious about the introduction of such a complex system in a rush. If unions genuinely believe that July is too soon, then the ministry should give them more time to assimilate the process. And make sure that the document is clear enough to prevent them from taking the confusion as another excuse to delay the implementation.
Giving them clear details about the new appraisal system will reassure them. No more doubts about the criteria used to assess their performance at work, no more suspicions about a potential lack of professionalism or independence from the person reporting that will justify a possible salary rise - or not.
If the ministry's or minister's interference in school affairs has been a regular and useless feature of school realities so far, then it should stop as well.
This definitely has to be clarified because performance appraisal as such is a good move for the whole public sector.
A sector that has faced so many criticisms by the public for its lack of efficiency and slowness to react can only benefit from such a new method. That will force all civil servants to do their job in the most possible correct way if they are to get any promotion during their career.
This is also true for the education sector. It is true that the field is faced with many problems and that the whole structure should change so that children can achieve a better quality of education. But teachers are part of the deal. Like in any other sector, there are black sheep among educators and they should not be left in schools as the future of our children depends on them.
We should not let their success - or failure - in the hands of unprofessional, lazy and unethical people. For them, performance appraisal will be killing. For others, it will only serve as a way of cleaning the profession and convey a clear and professional image of the teaching sector. The lack of labour force in this sector should not become a reason for keeping all the black sheep on board
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