In what ways can the present educational system be improved to provide an

education that is more responsive to the needs of both the society and the
individual?
If today we are asking ourselves so many questions about education, it is because we
have forgotten the very aim of education. Education is not merely teaching someone
to read, write and do arithmetic. It is not preparing someone for a job only. It is all
this and much more. It is preparing someone to lead a meaningful life for him and for
the society in which he lives. If education does not do that then it fails.
To prevent failures of our present educational system, positive measures must be
taken and implemented to all constituencies of education at all levels.

Democratisation of education
Reforms in education do mean equal chances and opportunity for every child to have
access to education. As a result, state should become more involved in ensuring that
children who suffer from mental or physical disabilities have access to education. It is
the state's duty to move away from the present system where education of those
children is left to charity institutions mainly. Though the child is physically disabled,
if the latter has the potential to follow a normal class in a normal primary or
secondary school the opportunity must be present. And special provision must be
made to cater for those children in any of their educational institution.

Actually, the widening gap between rich and poor is increasing at an alarming
fashion. Consequently, students from more privileged family background are
educationally advantaged by the time they start school and are favoured even more
strongly by the middle-class bias of schools as they progress through the grade levels.
In any case, students from more privileged family background do perform better
academically. The personal/social – development goals may be even more radically
affected because they are embedded in the “hidden curriculum”. Thus, to bring equity
in education those underprivileged children should have facilities and resources from
their schools and state to keep pace with others. Facilities such as access to school
library after school hours, access to information technology, books and the Internet.
Assistance from teachers and remedial work program at odd hours must be available.
Close monitoring of school
Close monitoring of school can and will surely improve the cost-effectiveness and
efficiency of our educational system, grant made to private secondary schools should
be radically revised to ensure that those who have been, and still are, making
unreasonable profits should cease to do so and that the good secondary schools
presently operating on a shoestring should be able to function efficiently and develop
as they wish.

Inspectorate
Level of inspection is very low indeed if not non-existent. To improve the
effectiveness of educational system a rigid inspectorate body should exists. There
must be an increase in the number of inspectors and as well as regular control and
monitoring of schools. Moreover, inspectors’ role must be redefined as counsellors,
consultants or advisers to principals or rectors to manage their schools efficiently.

Rethinking of school pedagogy

The academic education has some inherent defect. So far there has been too much
stress on written work. While it is very good indeed to be able to write correct English
or French it would have been even much better to speak correct English and French.
At school, there is very little oral work and this makes that very few students can
speak English and French fluently and this has been a serious defect for many during
interviews for jobs. To overcome such drawback an adequate program of literacy and
as well as numeracy must be designed and implemented and closely monitored by all
the parties concerned.

There must be continuity in the educational system, from pre-primary to primary and
to secondary. When moving from one type of institution to the other, the child must
have been prepared for it so that the higher institution is a follow up on what has
taken place before. There must be a progressive approach from one level to another.
There should not be a great gap of load of work from one standard to another as
existed actually from STD IV for instance.
In fact, the 11-year schooling “Ending the rate race” report 2001(S.Obeegadoo) will
re-asset the vital need for basic education and the need to organise the various stages
of education to provide for passage from one stage to another and to diversify the
paths through the system. This will make it possible to avoid individual choice
between selection by ability, which increase the number of academic failures and the
risk of exclusion and the same education for all, which can inhibit talent.

Teacher pupil/ratio
The teacher/pupil ratio has to be a reasonable one. Crammed or overcrowded classes
do not get best out of the teacher or the pupil. Priority must be given to remedial
classes, where there should better teacher/pupil ratio to enable greater individual
attention, pastoral and psychological care.

Curriculum development
A new broad based, valid and reliable curriculum will meet the development needs of
the country, in terms of an educated and a skilled work force. It will allow our
children to face new challenges of the economy and the global trends issues of the 21 st
century society. Curriculum development activities must be decentralised and teachers
both at primary and secondary level must be encouraged to innovate and to adapt their
teaching to suit the needs of the actual educational system.
At secondary level much greater autonomy must be left to the teachers and to
individual schools. The Mauritius Institute of Education (MIE) along with its
Curriculum Development Centre (CDC) must accordingly adjust its role and
strategies in the field of curriculum development.

Moral values introduction

“School children learn many things which are no doubt useful but they gradually
forget that the essential thing is to be human and kind and playful and to make life
richer for ourselves and others.” (Jawaharlal Nehru).
With the growing population, increased unemployment and the growth of housing
estates grouping so many unemployed, delinquency is becoming very common. Many
people have lost their moral values. Our education system has not dealt with this
problem so far although it is basic to the growth of a “healthy” nation. Civism –
approached tactfully, adequately and in an interesting way, must be taught in all
schools starting in pre-primary level.

Citizenship education introduction/values

“Our people must be made to understand the virus of communication and of
regionalism which seem to corrode our national will and purpose.”
(Indira Gandhi)

Citizenship education will reinforce the concept of “Unity in diversity” and by the
way upholding the sense of nationalism/patriotism in each and everyone. Through
citizenship values, people will be aware of the evilness of communalism and how to
overcome it. Citizenship education must be integrated in the school curriculum
starting at the pre-primary level.

Introduction of history subject

History must be re-introduced in school curriculum and taught in an analytical and
critical way not as a reference of times and dates. Students will learn and appreciate
different cultures thereby leading to a more deep understanding, respect and tolerance
for others. History also helps to avoid repetition of mistakes of the past in the future.
Moreover, development of critical thinking will prevail which our actual educational
system suppresses quite surprisingly.

Values of Social or Community based activity

Social/community based activity beyond charity and voluntaries are an effective
means to develop moral values and good principles in our children. Especially where
the corruption is inherent and is increasing drastically at all levels in our society
actually.
For example in Report K.Jagatsingh in 1979; a community based activity involving
the interaction of a number of secondary school teachers and students with cane
harvesters and girls went to the tea field to learn to live with the hard facts and
realities of the Mauritius situation. It was expected that students respect and value the
importance and dignity of manual work. Such experience has proved most interesting
and positive, indeed.

Development at teachers level

Improvement of education is invariably associated with development at teachers’
level. One cannot exist without the other.
‘If a new program works teachers get little credit; if it fails they got most of the
blame.’
(-Anonymous)

Enhanced roles for teachers in instruction and decision making, integration of

multiple innovations, restructured time-tables, supporting collaborative work cultures,
radical reorganisation of teacher education, new roles such as mentors, coaches, and
other teacher leadership arrangement; and revamping and developing the shared
mission and goals of the school among teachers, administrators, the community and
sometimes the students.

Teachers have to use also informal methods of teaching so as to diversify the student
abilities and to develop personal/social values and attitudes. New teacher role to
facilitate self-motivation and promoting delaying gratification ideas in children.

Training
There has to be systematic improvement of teachers training at various stages in a
teacher’s career, in view of the fact that the activities of teachers influence directly the
personality development of children and the educational system as a whole.
In-service training
The in-service training of teachers must be encouraged since the quality and ability of
teachers are gradually developed over the whole span of their teaching life. No
individual program can be considered as permanent adequate preparation for a
demanding professional career. There should be more thorough and sustained
professionalism development through in-service provision. Thus, the MIE has a key
role in training and in-service training of teachers.

Changes at examinations level

The inherent defect of the present system of examination is that the child is tested in
relation to the average pupil instead of being tested in absolute terms with regard to
his own abilities. Continuous assessment and the personal/social development must be
acknowledged and counted as progress. Test must be standardised and aligned tightly
with curriculum.

Strengthening of school management

We must move towards more participation from people at large so as to increase
initiative instead of throttling it. If there are any faults in the manner in which private
organisation run educational institutions, the answer is to provide administrative
supports at all level rather than to advocate phasing out. School would be all right if
only managers/rectors/principal had more ‘vision’ as educational teachers.

Regional education institution support

Creating new role for regional distinct personnel, transferring school principals and
establishing new expectations and training for the role of principals, creating
incentives and opportunities for teachers to obtain resources for reforms that they
proposed, establishing a teachers centre and other activities to stimulate teacher
interaction and professional development, and obtaining added resources through non-
governmental organisation (NGO) innovative programs.
Changes in automatic promotion
The system of automatic promotion must be revised since it adversely affects the
performance of low-achievers and late developers. Mostly in primary schools pupils
are promoted from grade to grade until they complete the primary cycle, no matter
how they achieve in their schoolwork. Automatic promotion system can be effective
if there is a programme of criterion testing (to help the teachers diagnose learning
difficulties of each child) and a flexible system of grouping children according to their
progress in each area.

Support services
Existence of support services such as psychological, career guidance, hygiene and
health services must be set up in each region to cater for children, teachers as well as
the administrators for the proper functioning of the school as a whole.

Standard setting at all level

To bring parity of esteem among school standardisation at all level must take place.
Good infrastructure setting with all facilities, agreed consensus on teachers/pupils
ratio, balance of qualified, experienced and new teachers in each school and the
presence of support services. ‘Classroom and schools become effective when (1)
quality people are recruited for teaching (2) the workplace is organised to stimulate
and reward accomplishment’. (Conley, Bacharach, & Baner 1990)

Conclusion
Individuals and groups at all levels of the system can accomplish major improvements
if they pay attention to both the content and the process of educational change (see
Barth 1990, Schlechty 1990).Educators, pupils, politicians, parents, minister of
education, employers, social workers, all of us who feel concerned about the future
should stop and think about our society and our education system if we want to see
the emergence of a society that shall give everyone the chance to develop his
personality to the maximum and to serve societies to the best of his ability.