The education reform

Education is the most vital element that a person should possess. It can be obtained directly for example at home, in school and in religious place and, indirectly while seeing films and, experience from life. In every country education is the key issue of the government to provide better knowledge to the young generation. Whitty and Wisby, 2016 states that changes in goverance arrangements for schools have been an important element of education reform since its existence. Sometimes a concept works for some years then with the demand of the mareducationket and to create a better society there are reforms done. In almost many countries after some years the reform is done in the education sector.

As Mauritius is a small country situated in the southern hemisphere and well known in the African countries, recently there has been a new reform in the education sector; the implementation of the Nine Year Continuous Basic Education. Reform was done since a long time before but each and every time there was something new added to it for the welfare of the children. According to National Review, 2015 lots of changes has been done in the previous reform which are:

Introduction of Kreol Mauricien Language started to be taught in 2012, Bridging the Gap project was initiated to facilitate the transition of the pre-primary children to primary school, winter and summer school project has started, those students who didn’t pass the CPE examination and fail in one core subject was allowed to resit at CPE level thus to improve the achievement level, free transport was provided to all students in Mauritius, the special Needs unit was introduced where needy students could get special need support and finally Enhancement Programme was started in standard 3 and Standard 4 in the primary school due to an amendment in education act in 2011 to ban tuition at grade 1 to 4.

Concerning the communication and technology level, the sankore project was introduced in 2012 where interactive whiteboard and use of computer was integrated in the school curriculum.

The Zones d’Education Prioritaires ( ZEP) project was launched where 29 primary school in Mauritius having a low performing result, that is pass percentage is less than 40%, for a consecutive of years were considered. In these schools, students were allowed daily free pack lunch which was also called as “Hot meal programme”. The outcome of the project was; there was a decrease rate in absenteeism (15.2% in 2006 and 9.7% in 2013). Besides, there was an increase in the pass rate in the majority of these schools.

The school curriculum has been re-framed where the teaching methods have been reviewed and redesigned. The project “Maurice Ile Durable” was introduced in all schools. Some of the components that were included are dealing with waste segregation, rainwater harvesting, tree planting, composting, photovoltaic for green energy and greening of school.

This was done because the rate of failure at CPE (Primary school Certificate) since 2013 has remained between 20% and 23% CITATION Mau16 l 1033 (Mauritius Examination Syndicate, 2013- 2016). In order to overcome this failure and prepare our youth for the increasing pace of technology oriented and new challenges to have a better society, a change was needed. So, the Nine Year Continuous Basic Education was voted in the National Assembly and started with the project in 2015. Following the change, the school curriculum was amended, a new National Curriculum Framework was published (National Curriculum Framework, 2015). To implement the reform a new structure was designed which can be seen below.

1.2 Background of the research
The Nine Year Continuous Basic Education was introduced to make a whole child development a reality where every learner will be inspired to become a self-motivated individual, an autonomous lifelong learner, a responsible citizen with a strong values base and a productive contributer to society according to (Inspiring every child, 2016). The old system of education with intense competition has resulted in a percentage of our children not being adequately literate or numerate despite completing six years of primary schooling. Equally, the CPE failures which have been directed to pre-vocational education do not guarantee a solid foundation for future learning. The main concept behind the reform is aligned with the sustainable development Goal 4 which is that of ensuring inclusive, equitable and quality education for all and promoting lifelong learning. As per the (Inspiring every child, 2016) The Nine Year Schooling will make sure that every student has at least the basic skills level which is in line with the international benchmark by 2030.

The requirements of the 21st century skills would be students doing things with what they already know. So, to be able to accomplish this task it is important to develop a generation of young adults who possesses the right knowledge, skills, attitude and values. These can be found with the critical thinking skills, adaptability and creativity, collaborative working and good communication skills which are the main pillars and are found in the new system of Education (Ministry of Education and Human Resources, 2015)

1.3 PURPOSE OF THE RESEARCH

This research has motivated me to work on the education reform that is the Nine Year Continuous Basic Education because it is an alarming topic in the country. Many people are eager to know how the system will work, what are the changes that will occur, whether any secondary school will be attached to a primary school so that when the students completed grade 6 they will move to the specific school and lots of more questions. Moreover, as educators are experiencing an avalanche of changes namely new technologies, new subjects, new format of questionnaire and others CITATION Boy15 l 1033 (Boyte, 2015). It has boosted my mind to work on the topic.
This research evaluates the implementation of education reform in the primary school in Mauritius. It aims at investigating whether the introduction of Nine Year Continuous Basic Education in the primary school has really had its desired impact. It also investigates a set of research questions about the behavior of students with the introduction of the holistic education at school. In addition, the comparison level of understanding and importance between educators of different primary schools is also considered.

The thematic priority is to find out the extent to which adoption of the education reform has been successful in the Mauritian Government primary school. Although the private schools form part in the education system of Mauritius, many of the educators are bearing the same situation. The reactions of the educators towards Nine Year Continuous Basic Education are important determinants of the success of the reform because if they feel dissatisfied, unfair, biased and irrelevant then the system will certainly fail.

1.4 Definition of terms

In the whole study there is mention of education reform which means the Nine Year Continuous Basic Education. Another word which has the same implication of Nine Year Continuous Basic Education is Nine year Schooling and the new system of education. It means that the children should have a continuous of nine year educations that is it should starts from grade 1 to grade 9 without missing any class. Previously when a child did not pass his CPE examination he/she was allowed to repeat the class but in this new system there won’t be any hinder in education up to grade 9.

Another word which is mentioned is Ministry which in fact it stands for the Ministry of Education and Human Resources, Tertiary Education and Scientific Research. Sometimes there is reference to children, students and pupils which actually have the same meaning that is children who are between 6 to 11 years old.
There is also mentioned of the old system which implies The Certificate of Primary Education (CPE) where pupils of standard six took part in the CPE examination and should pass in order to obtain a secondary school in Mauritius.

1.5 Aims, Objectives, Research Questions and Hypothesis

1.5.1 Aim and Objectives

This research focuses on the education reform in the Government Primary Schools in Mauritius and attempts to gauge the extent to which it has been successful. It is divided into two sections one for the educators and the other one for the headmaster. It has been done in order to evaluate the reform both on the educator and headmaster’s perspective and to see to what extent the reform has been accepted in this study. The objectives of this research for the educators are:

To evaluate the acceptance of the education reform in Mauritius.
To identify the holistic development of all students.
To compare the level of understanding, perceived importance and usefulness of education reform between educators of different primary school.
The objectives for the headmasters are:
To evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the education reform.
To identify the strategy used by headmasters in administrating education reform at school.

1.5.2 Research Questions for Educators

Objective 1: To evaluate the acceptance of the education reform in Mauritius.

To what extent educators accept the education reform?
Are the educators facing difficulties in the education reform?
Is the education reform replacing the old system that is CPE?
To what extent educators find the education reform to be relevant, fair and consistent?

Objective 2: To identify the holistic development of all students.

Does the education reform allow the development of the students?
To what extent the three learning domain (cognitive, affective & psycho-motor) occur in the students?
To what extent holistic education provide moral values to students?
Is there any perception of educators about the holistic education taught at school?

Objective 3: To compare the level of understanding, perceived importance and usefulness of
education reform between educators of different primary school.

To what extent educators understand the importance and usefulness of education reform?
Is there any improvement and components that educators would have like in the education reform?
Do educators believe that reform is a good tool?
Do educators see reform difficult to implement?

1.5.3 Research Questions for Headmasters

Objective 1: To evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the education reform.

To what degree there is a difference in the strengths and weaknesses of the education reform?
Does the new system affect the work of the headmasters?
Is there any school infrastructure available to adapt to the education reform?

Objective 2: To identify the strategy used by headmasters in administrating education reform at
school.

How are the headmasters administrating education reform?

Is there any extra duties are assigned to the headmasters?

To what extent the help and support provided by the ministry to integrate in the new system is working?

1.5.4 Research Hypothesis

According to Patricia Farrugia, Bradeley A, Fourough F and Mohit (2010, 280) a good hypothesis should be based on a good research question at the beginning of the study. Thus, the research hypothesis for the educators are as follows:

Objective 1

H0: There is no difference in acceptance of education reform.
H1: There is a difference in acceptance of education reform.

Objective 2

H0: There is no difference in the behaviour of the students with the introduction of holistic
education at school.
H1: There is a difference in the behaviour of the students with the introduction of holistic
education at school.

Objective 3

H0: There is no difference in the perceived importance and usefulness of eduction reform
between educators of different primary school.
H1: There is a significant difference in the perceived importance and usefulness of education
reform between educators of different primary school.
1.5.5 The research hypothesis for Headmasters are as follows:

Objective 1

H0: There is no difference between the strengths and weaknesses in the education reform.
H1: There is a difference between the strengths and weaknesses in the education reform.

Objective 2

H0: There is no significant relationship of the strategy used by headmasters in administrating
education reform at school.
H1: There is a significant relationship of the strategy used by headmasters in administrating
education reform at school.

1.5.6 Overall structure of the dissertation

The dissertation is organized in five chapters which are categorized as follows:
Chapter one- Introduction
An introduction to the education reform is given in Chapter 1. The background of the research and its purposes are explained. There are some definitions of some terms which are used throughout the study. The aim, objectives, research questions and hypothesis are then outlined.
Chapter two- Literature Review
It provides an overview of education system in Mauritius with the different types of reform which have taken place in the past. An indication of countries where reform has been successful is mentioned. The characteristics of the new system and its limitation are given together with a comparison of the old system CPE and new system PSAC.
Chapter three- Research Methodology
A detailed explanation of how the research was conducted to fulfill the objectives of the study is outlined. The methodological approach used for the study is described and the justification for the selected methodology is also given in this chapter.
Chapter four- Analysis of Findings
It presents the analysis of the main finding of the questionnaire survey and the semi-structures interviews obtained through SPSS Tool and content analysis respectively. The findings are given in relation to the research objectives and hypothesis.
Chapter five – Conclusion, Limitation, Recommendation and Further Research
This chapter summarises the dissertation and provides the final conclusion, limitation, recommendation and suggestions for further research.