RAFAL
Leckraz BURTON was one of the four speakers at the RAFAL forum “Roadmap for a Better Mauritius” held at Royal College Curepipe on 18 November 2022. The others were: Me Jean Gilbert ITHIER (Civic Values), Kee Chong LI KWONG WING (Economic Development) and Thierry LE BRETON (whose presentation, ‘Patrimoine’, figured in the Forum Page of Le Mauricien on 30 November 2022).
Burton’s talk was broadly on Education; he then put emphasis on the education of children with special needs (children who have learning difficulties due to emotional, mental or physical disabilities).
He opined that nowadays more emphasis is laid on INSTRUCTION rather than on EDUCATION. And he pointed out the differences between the two, by quoting a few lines from a French Dictionary: “Eduquer, c’est former l’esprit de quelqu’un, développer ses aptitudes, lui donner des principes moraux, tandis que Instruire c’est donner ou transmettre des connaissances nouvelles”.
According to Leckraz Burton, a person with a lot of qualifications is not necessarily educated whereas someone who may not have even completed the PSAC (Primary School Achievement Certificate) could be more educated as a result of the proper attitude, mind-set, life skills and values he would have acquired during his upbringing.
En passant, he referred to Paulo Freire, the Brazilian educator and philosopher who put forward: “Education either functions as an instrument to facilitate the integration of the younger generation into the logic of the present system and bring about conformity to it , or it becomes the practice of Freedom, the means by which men and women deal critically and creatively with reality and discover how to participate in the transformation of the World”.
Leckraz Burton mentioned that he has been an Executive member of APEBS (Association des Parents d’Enfants aux Besoins Spéciaux) for the last 23 years and, as such, he has had the opportunity to better comprehend the purposes and intricacies of Education and the particular needs of children with specific disabilities. He said that at APEBS there are Educators, not Teachers, and that the ratio is one Educator for 8 beneficiaries, with an individual education plan for each beneficiary. However, owing to certain mental or physical handicap some of these beneficiaries have limited academic potential, and are not able to sit for the PSAC Examinations.
At the specialized schools for students with learning disabilities and intellectual impairment, the emphasis is very much on the basic and holistic aspects of Education, including the core and the non-core subjects e.g. Moral Values, Civic Responsibility, Arts (Dance, Music, Painting,), IT and Sports.
Unfortunately, Specialized Education run by NGOs is not fully subsidized by the Government. Schools for children with special needs get only a contribution from the Ministry of Education through the GIA (Grant in Aid). According to Burton, since 2013 a request has been made to the appropriate authorities for a Remuneration Order for staff working in specialized schools, but to no avail. Apparently, the problem is that when staff was recruited by the NGOs in the past they did not all have the basic qualifications as specified by the SEN (Special Education Needs) Authority.
An Educator with School Certificate, or above, is eligible to follow courses at the Mauritius Institute of Education (MIE) leading to a CSE (Certificate in Special Education) and then further on to a Diploma in Special Education. With the introduction of the RPL (Recognition of Prior Learning), those with lesser qualifications (e.g. Teacher Assistants and Carers) are also provided with the opportunity to follow courses at the MIE. They have even been given a moratorium of three years to complete their Course. All the norms and standards are established by the Special Education Needs Authority (SENA) and these must be strictly adhered to, in the interest of the beneficiaries.
According to the NCRD (National Council for the Rehabilitation of Disabled) there are about 2000 children with Disabilities attending Specialized Schools and there are 71 such Schools registered with the SENA.
For Special Education to be inclusive and successful, Burton has this to say “I personally think that firstly, we should EDUCATE our leaders, students and the population in general so that they understand that a Disabled Person is a Human Being and that he/she should have the same rights as all of us.” He also mentioned the need to provide Education to young couples and Sex Education in schools, with the aim of reducing the number of children with disabilities.