Rajendra Sewpersadsing
The Grade 9 students of the Extended Stream, commonly known as Grade 9+ will sit for the National Certificate of Education (NCE) exams from the 6th to the 19th October this year. Those students were admitted to Grade 7 (EP) in 2018, but could not complete the four-year course in 2021 because of lockdown and staggered timetable. They will be the first cohort of EP students taking part in the NCE exams after attending school for five years. The results of that exam will split the Grade 9+ students into two groups: a very few* who would pass the exams and a much larger group* who would not be able to make it at the NCE exams.
The above title is just a trailer. The movie would be screened as a press conference, via the media sometime in December 2022 when the Ministry of Education would proudly comment on the performance of the Grade 9+ students in the National Certificate of Education (NCE) exams. The movie would show how the ministry will be celebrating the success of the very few* Grade 9+ students at the NCE exams. It would be the right opportunity to justify the decision of having the students of the Extended Stream sitting for the same NCE exams as those of the mainstream. The Ministry had been very adamant on that issue despite reasonable apprehensions from many stakeholders. Truly speaking, it was not very decisive at the time of the reforms. It was only after more than one year when I submitted a report to the ministry whereby I stated, “the EP students are placed in a train and set out for a journey without destination …” that the ministry confirmed its decision.
And, in that same report I drew the attention of the ministry to the profile of the EP students and the outcome if ever they were to sit for the NCE. My report led the ministry to commission a study to be carried out jointly by the Mauritius Institute of Education (MIE) and the World Bank. That study came out with findings and conclusions similar to what I reported. It was then decided that more emphasis be placed on literacy and numeracy, thus acknowledging the great difficulties of the EP students in the three Rs. Nonetheless, the ministry maintained the decision of having the EP students sitting for the NCE.
In a press article (Forum – Le Mauricien) in January 19, 2021, I explained the requirements for the award of the NCE certificate. In fact, the candidate (student of the extended or main stream) should, in one and same sitting, score more than 35 marks (Grade E) in a minimum of six core subjects which include English, French and Maths. All the core subjects will be assessed through written exams whereby the candidates should read, understand and produce an answer in the written form. In that same press article, I expressed my apprehension regarding the inability of the EP students to read and understand the questions in the assessments. Some students may score more than 35 marks in some subjects, but not in all the six core subjects. That is why I said that many EP students are “failures in the waiting”. But the movie would project a completely different scenario. Would the ministry try, by all means, to have some Grade 9+ students passing the NCE exams and thus providing an opportunity to jubilate?
What is projected for them?
I will also rejoice at the success of those very few EP students; they will be awarded a certificate attesting their achievements. How they will terminate their secondary education, that is another story which is full of doubts and despair. Coming back to the movie, is it really an event that demands celebration? Or, is it not more important to worry about the larger group* of the EP students who would not be able to make it at the NCE exams. What is projected for them? Will they be allowed to repeat the class and re-sit for the NCE in the following year? Or, will they be ejected from the education system after 11 years of schooling without any achievement? Most of them have reached the age of 16+ and have no skills to join the labour market. Will they be left in nature exposed to all the evils of society? We have a caring government and the ministry of education needs not celebrate but should, instead come up with concrete solutions.
This trailer aims at pushing the ministry to think over the movie. Instead of rejoicing and celebrating, in a way to justify the decision of having the EP students sitting for the NCE, the ministry should, in the movie, come up with detailed analysis of the NCE results, in terms of percentage passes in the mainstream and in the extended stream, gender-wise and subject-wise. The ministry should highlight failures and propose concrete solutions to the causes of such failures. Alongside, the ministry should say what it has in mind for those who will fail the NCE. Within the last five years (2018-2022), some 15% of the EP students (310 boys and 190 girls) have left the school system; the causes are many, but the main reason is that the menu served at school is not to their taste. The curriculum and the pedagogy are too academic with practically no project works, no hands-on experiments to ease the assimilation of complex concepts. The ministry should show how it intends to retain EP students at school. Education is compulsory up to the age of 16. The authorities should see that no child under the age of 16 is outside school.
To conclude, I will refer to what Philosophy of Education teaches us. Education should have broad aims which are in turn, broken down into very specific objectives. During the design of the curriculum, those aims and objectives should be very clear and SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound). The ministry of education and the MIE were ‘harping’ on an “adapted curriculum” for the Extended Stream. What were the objectives of that adapted curriculum? To have just a few* Grade 9+ students passing the NCE! If those were the goals of the adapted curriculum, then the ministry should be very proud and need to celebrate such wonderful success. The movie is then, most impatiently awaited.
* This article was written before the results of the Mock Exams for the Extended Stream – results which now show the very few passing the NCE is 10% (about 300) and the larger group failing the NCE is 90% (about 2700). I am afraid, the movie may not be screened, unless 300 Grade 9+ students passing the NCE is a really great achievement for the ministry and needs celebration.
September 2022