Sheila Bunwaree
The World Economic Forum Global Risk Report 2024 points to 5 main risks that Mauritius faces: (1) shortage of labour (2) economic slowdown (3) public debt (4) Inflation (5) Extreme weather conditions and climate change. How about other equally or even more important risks such as: rising gender inequality, new faces of poverty and inequality, rapid loss of biodiversity, persistent disruptions in food supply, and the growing dysfunctional education system. All such risks are often interconnected and mutually reinforcing with huge implications for sustainable development but not generally recognized by economists embracing neoliberalism or financial globalization. I will here, delve into only one of these risks: the growing dysfunctional education system. What are the latter’s implications for a small, resource poor multiethnic island such as ours and more particularly for people of slave descent. Can education be turned into an effective tool for reparation as requested by the Truth and Justice Commission?
The Truth and Justice Commission- Education as a Tool for Reparation
The Education system of Mauritius constituted an important component of the Truth and Justice Commission, enacted by the Truth and Justice Commission Act of 2008. It is Navin Ramgoolam’s foresight and vision as well as the commitment of the OF and Verts Fraternels, under the leadership of the Michel brothers – committed to improve the plight of the descendants of the enslaved people, which led to the setting up of the Commission. During the parliamentary debates in the context of the passing of the 2008 Truth and Justice Act, Navin Ramgoolam aptly noted:
“…it is important therefore that we recognise our past history and lay that past to rest so that we can move on to reconciliation, justice and national unity….”
Have we been able to effectively move on to reconciliation, justice and national unity? Well, on the surface, we seem quite united and reconciled as a nation. It is true that there is no open war and conflict in Mauritius, resonating with Johan Galtung’s idea of negative peace, but this does not mean that all is fine. Privileging the romanticization of national unity rather than unpacking the undercurrents of the deep social malaise we are confronted with, can be a very dangerous route to tread. Historical wounds run deep in our society and unless efforts are made to address them, our social cohesion would remain under threat. The Truth and Justice commission report had actually opened doors for certain blatant historical injustices to be looked into but sadly very little has been done to this effect. The potential of EDUCATION for reparations, has remained largely untapped. A number of recommendations made by the Truth and Justice Commission report have not been implemented. Those pertaining directly to education, include amongst others: the compulsory introduction of history as a discipline in all schools, the introduction of creole as a medium of instruction. Creole has actually been introduced as a subject/discipline that students can choose up to Grade 11 if they so wish, but inadequate attention has been paid to the utilization of the Creole language for teaching and learning in schools, despite the fact that UNESCO has made it very clear that the battle for literacy and numeracy can only be gained through the utilization of the mother tongue.
There is only a handful of students who opt for history in our schools. Moreover, the numbers have dwindled over the years. It does not suffice to make history compulsory- it has to be of a ‘decolonial nature’. Decoloniality is an epistemological project, emphasizing the necessity to delink ourselves from western imposed knowledge systems, to then proceed with the ‘remaking’ and ‘reconstituting’ of our own ways of living, doing and thinking. Professor Walter Mignolo tells us that it is important to understand decoloniality as ‘praxis’ of undoing and redoing’. If history is written with western lenses, and/or by a local elite which has not been able to decolonise its own mind, there will be little “consciousness’ if at all, for slavery’s enduring impact and for reparations, let alone education as a tool for reparation. The way we produce and disseminate knowledge has to change, if we are to turn our society into one of equal citizenship, genuine opportunities, truly cohesive, reconciled and assist in addressing systemic and chronic injustices. More so, in an increasingly connected world, where there is a risk of new forms of colonialism emerging. These show us that unequal power relations can take various forms and dimensions but we, as a nation, must do everything we can, to resist new forms of colonialism and thus ‘unlock the power of our common future…’ as so eloquently expressed by King Charles at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Rwanda in 2022. But an archaic, ailing education system does not help much.
The Dysfunctional Education System and the Risk it Poses
Factors highlighting the dysfunctionality of the system include the high level of illiteracy in the country, the large numbers of children excluded from the system, the non recognition of multiple talents and intelligences of our children, obsession with academic performance and percentage of marks, skewed resource allocation towards the wealthy, a mal adapted teachers’ education program, no room for interdisciplinarity and problem solving, children trained to be passive receptacles rather than critical thinkers, the lack of accountability by teachers and school administrators, a state sponsored brain drain through the laureateship system, universities which are becoming diploma mills. These are just some of the factors affecting the education world with very little hope for empowering the masses of our children, particularly those of African slave descent. A range of expert stakeholders in the educational field have drawn our attention to our fledgling education system and its deleterious consequences. They cannot be all wrong.
Our people are the only resource that the country possesses. But when the very people are not given the chance to participate in the local labour market and live up to their aspirations and expectations, frustration builds up. And when those searching for some kind of opportunity and a life of dignity are debarred from doing so, often as a result of policies, not informed by research on the ground; different forms of instability may start manifesting themselves. Students with 4 credits at SC not allowed to move on to HSC is a case in point.
A dysfunctional education system carries within it the seeds of violence. The working class is often the worst victim of dysfunctional systems. Mauritians of slave descent are said to be disproportionately present amongst the working class. When the latter is subjected to different schemes and policies derived from elsewhere and influenced by imperialist and racialized schools of thought, there is very little room for inclusivity, creativity and growth of the mind. Researchers such as Gill, Boswell and the multidisciplinary group on exclusion, under the aegis of the then President of the Republic as well as those who contributed to the Educational Project of the Truth and Justice Commission, have clearly shown that children of slave descent continue to be subjected to different types of discriminations and stereotypes in the educational world, albeit not always intentional. Whither Reparations?
