Small Island Challenges in Educational Reforms: The Case of Mauritius

Educational reform is a dynamic process that continues to haunt small island developments. After the two bold steps taken recently in Mauritius, namely regionalisation and the abolition of ranking at CPE level, there now seems to be a pause except for continued construction of schools. Whilst these developments seemed to be initially welcomed by the population in general, it has raised a number of serious concerns. A number of important issues have cropped up such as the no provision for elites in our educational system, time-consuming student recruitment exercises at Standard I and Form I, the unacceptable rates of failure at CPE, the place of science/IT, the unequal access opportunities. Most of these have remained so far unanswered probably because it may be difficult for us to seek for remedial solutions to these challenging issues with the existing system. Yet, tangible and innovative solutions do exist to our emerging educational problems provided there are some adjustments to the existing system. This paper deals with ways to enhance the current education framework that has been now set on a regional focus. A rotating cluster system is proposed as a solution to the above challenges. The demarcation of the regions is carried out on the basis of the student population in the regions targeted, proximity of the schools, and the transport network. Benefits include equal access opportunities, less traffic problems, optimisation of resources, specialized schools, justified construction of schools, and reintroduction of competition.