FACTS: About Laureates and the 2003 Regionalisation Policy

Now that the chorus of congratulations for our laureates from the Regional and Confessional Colleges has subsided, and since Education is all about the quest for truth, it is most appropriate that public opinion be enlightened about some facts.
Confessional Colleges
In some quarters, the claim has been made that the outstanding performance of laureates who do not come from the so-called “Star” Colleges is the outcome of the policy of Regionalisation implemented by the MMM/MSM Government. Is this a valid assertion ?
It needs to be recalled that as a result of the implementation of the 2003 MMM/MSM policy of Regionalisation, two categories of colleges were established : Form I-V and Form VI colleges. The Confessional Colleges which were FI-VI colleges decided not to adhere to this policy and continued to provide the full cycle of secondary education to their students. In spite of the fact that many of the Educational Advisers of the then Minister of Education were from the RCEA fraternity and have always been and continue to be among the staunchest supporters of his reform agenda. Curious, isn't it ?
The Confessional Colleges were marginally affected by the 2003 Regionalisation policy as only half of the Form 1 seats were to be allocated on a Regional basis.
“The Ministry proposes to attribute half of the Form I seats in all of the private schools (whether confessional or not) on a regional basis, the other half being attributed by the management of these schools.” *
Clearly the Confessional Colleges were allowed to recruit students on a National basis. Also, the construction of new colleges in the context of broadening access, in the context of the 2003 Regionalisation policy, concerned primarily the Government sector ;so strictly speaking, the Confessional Colleges, if anything were marginally concerned with 2003 policy of Regionalisation. And therefore, to ascribe the success of their laureates to that same 2003 Regionalisation policy cannot but be a travesty of facts. To drive home this point in his usual elegant style manner, Mr. Jacques Malié, Rector of the St-Esprit College had this to say :
“Depuis 2000, on a toujours des lauréats. Certaines années on a eu huit ou dix. Il est normal qu'on essaie de perpétuer cette tradition autant que possible.” (Le Défi Quotidien – vendredi 10 février 2012.)
The message could not be louder and clearer !
Ebène SSS, De Plevitz SSS and others
Unlike the Confessional Colleges, the Government Form I-V colleges, which included colleges like Ebène Girls SSS and De Plevitz SSS, were not allowed the possibility of offering Form VI classes. If this policy had been maintained, would the 2011 laureates have hailed from the above two colleges ?
It was a change in policy brought about by the then Labour Government that provided the opportunity to these colleges to offer the full cycle of secondary education, thereby reversing the policy of Form I-V colleges and reverting to the system of Form I-VI colleges.
Labour Government vision
The 2011 laureates of the two colleges owe it much to the then Labour Government vision which has allowed students, as from 2007, to complete their HSC in the same college where they had started their Form I. (Again, incidentally, Mr. S. Bissoondoyal, ex-adviser on Educational matters of the MMM/MSM government, has acknowledged that the categorisation of Form I-V and From VI colleges was, indeed, a mistake and needed to be revisited.) The situation has been redressed by the Labour Government. All colleges are now Form I-VI colleges.
There is now an emerging trend that our secondary institutions can go for higher levels of achievements and it is expected that more colleges will emulate the example of Ebène SSS and De Plevitz SSS in the years to come.
It is too early, and in the absence of scientific data, to ascribe the success of the Confessional Colleges and the Regional Colleges (set up in 2007) to the 2003 policy of Regionalisation of the MMM/MSM Government. However, one common denominator that can be identified, at this stage, is the implementation, over the past years, of a smooth, stable and sustained educational strategy of a full cycle of secondary education.
Education should remain above partisan politics. And those who claim to advance the cause of Education should refrain from gaining political mileage by distorting facts. For Education is about the quest for truth.... not the travesty of facts.

* (Ending the rat race in Primary education and breaking the admission bottleneck at Secondary level : the way forward. May, 2001 Ministry of Education & Scientific Research)