This decision endorsed by the Council of Ministers comes a week after a complaint lodged in Court by two parents
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With the extension of the school calendar, many parents have complained that their children will fall behind by a year compared to those attending private paying schools. Two parents even lodged a complaint against the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education, Leela Devi Dookun-Luchoomun, last week.
Thus, the Council of Ministers endorsed the decision that children who have reached the age of 7 will be able to move on to grade 2, while those in grade 5 will be able to take part in this year’s Primary School Achievement Certificate (PSAC) exams.
Students in grades 10 and 12 will also be able to register for the School Certificate and Higher School Certificate exams, respectively, if they are ready. This decision by the Ministry of Education aims to correct inequalities caused by the change in the school calendar in 2020 and the extension until October of this year. First, children born between January and May 2015 and having already reached the age of 7, will soon be able to move up to grade 2, instead of remaining stuck in grade 1.
Explanations given by the VPM and Minister of Education indicate that special classes will be set up to allow these children to complete their grade 1 program and move on to grade 2, starting next June.
A meeting with the heads of primary schools took place at the ministry last Saturday to finalize the implementation of this new regulation. For the VPM and Minister of Education, children of this age have already reached advanced cognitive development, allowing them to move to another level.
In addition, the necessary arrangements will be made to allow grade 5 students, wishing to try their luck in the next PSAC exams, to complete the grade 5 program and move on to the grade 6 program.
These new provisions relieve many parents as well as teachers who had difficulty dealing with children with different levels of maturity in the classroom.
This decision comes a week after the complaint lodged by two parents whose children attend Sir Veerasamy Ringadoo primary school in Quatre-Bornes, who accused the minister of having encouraged discrimination. In their complaint, they point out that their children have been penalized and are one year behind, unlike those attending private schools, which have been authorized to maintain the old school calendar. These parents had precisely asked that their children in grade 5 be able to pass the PSAC this year and enter grade 7 next year.
VPM Dookun also made it clear that this new regulation will apply for the next school year as well. Children leaving kindergarten at the age of 6 will be able to do 6 months in grade 1, with an accelerated program, before moving on to grade 2. A solution which would also partially solve the problem linked to the reception capacity, since schools will end up with double the usual demands for admission, with the extension of the school year.
At the secondary level, as Le Mauricien had already announced, students in grade 10 (Form IV) will be able to take part in the School Certificate exams in October this year. The same applies to students in grade 12 (Lower Six), for the Higher School Certificate exams.
In these two cases, the Minister has not announced any arrangements made to allow students in grades 10 and 12 to complete their programs of study. However, they will be able to register as School Candidates and not as Private Candidates.
This news did not fail to arouse its share of dissatisfaction, in particular among students of grade 13 who must present themselves as Private Candidates, if they opt for the tests in June. They deplore the fact that nothing has been done to help them make up for lost time, whereas it is now being done for others. Those who want to compete for state scholarships must take the tests next October and not in June.
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