Dr JIMMY HARMON
In a preceding article “Grants Mechanism to Colleges: Roulette Russe against the Temple ’’ in the Forum page of Le Mauricien, I gave an account of the meetings the Federation of Union of Managers of Private Secondary Schools had with leaders of different political parties and I pointed out how these meetings led us to think that the PSEA mechanism for the disbursement of the grants operates like a “roulette russe”. In this paper, I will demonstrate the other dimension of this mechanism which impacts negatively the long and painstakingly acquired pax et concordia in the Mauritian education landscape. The Latin expression pax (peace) et concordia (harmony) goes back to the religion of ancient Rome. ‘Concordia’ is the goddess who embodies agreement in marriage and society. Her Greek equivalent is usually regarded as ‘harmonia’. The two words pax and concordia have entered political discourse of the Republican era, meaning social concord or entente. Since then, the full expression pax et concordia has been used in the settlement of disputes in religion and politics. It has also been adopted by institutions. For example, the motto of the Municipality of Port Louis is ‘concordia et progressio’. It is by pax (peace) et concordia (harmony) that our education system has always solved conflicts and made progress. Today, PSEA as a regulatory body is creating a deregulatory situation.
Non-Fee Paying Private Secondary Schools
As at March 2023, there were 179 schools providing secondary Regular and Extended Education. The secondary school enrolment was 98,900 of whom 51.7% were girls. The number of teachers was 8,992. The Gross Enrolment Ratio (number of students enrolled per 100 population aged 12 to 19 years) works out to 74.4% and the pupil/teacher ratio 11. There are 77 Private non fee paying and 63 State schools. Over the years the number of private schools has significantly decreased as they have closed down due to several factors. During the year 2023, three private secondary schools have closed down. The risk of more schools closing down is high. But this time, it is not just a question of funding but how the disbursement of the fund is a swipe of the penknife in the pax et concordia between State and faith schools. At this point, for a better understanding of the current situation, it is good that we look at international studies in private and/or faith schools and find out how they play a key role in education.
International Studies
Civil society’s contributions in the provision of educational services are a highly dynamic phenomenon across the world. In many countries, private schools alongside state or public schools exist. Amongst the private are those owned by religious groups. Countries differ in the terminology used, with some countries adopting the term ‘denominational schools’ (Australia), ‘faith schools’ ( UK) and ‘confessional schools’ (Mauritius). Studies indicate that private schools retain their positive contributions since they strongly hold ideological ideals, such as carrying out humanistic values, maintaining a high expectation culture, and focusing on personal regards. They also raise the importance of private schools under a highly repressive regime. The schools were also found to be effective even when the political atmosphere was very dire and unconducive for democracy in Chile after the fall of the socialist President Allende. Researchers Lockheed and Jimenez (1994) explain three reasons why private participation in basic education plays an important role. First, private education must fill the inevitable gaps offered by public education provision. Second, private education systems have been found to foster greater efficiency. These characteristics include a greater flexibility in the way they operate and in the way they are funded, a direct accountability to those who use their services and a greater tendency for those in charge of individual schools to make critical educational decisions. Finally, Lockheed and Jimenez (1994) contend that private schools can serve as a laboratory for alternative models of school-level management, which, if effective, and accordingly it could be adopted by public schools. Educational services are a dynamically complex enterprise, requiring continuous collaborations and improvements from many parties. On the one hand, an educational enterprise is volatile to ups and downs of social, economic, and cultural forces. Are not our fee-paying schools (confessional and non confessional) in Mauritius currently confronted with lethal forces? It is at this juncture that the second insight helps in our analysis.
Is it a shame to acknowledge the past?
History bears witness how governments in the past have handled difficult situations in education. In 1974, the Ramphul Report recommends the setting up of the Private Secondary Schools Authority (PSSA) and asks for the classification of schools into ‘state’ and ‘private’. In 1977, government implemented a scheme for abolition of school fees with the announcement of free secondary education after the General Elections results of 1976. In 1988, government set up a Technical Grants Committee to examine the funding of private schools. The final recommendations for the grant formula were made thereafter by the Mauritius Audit Bureau. This mechanism involved all key stakeholders and helped to pave the way for a cost-effective education system at national level for the secondary sector. It is to be noted that this practice has been quashed by the PSEA.
In 1989, upon the initiative of Father Hervé de St Pern, secretary of the Roman Catholic Education Authority (RCEA), the Federation of the Union of Managers of Private Secondary Schools (commonly referred to as FOM) was founded. The Federation comprises three Unions namely MPSSU (Managers of Private Secondary Schools Union), RCSSU (Roman Catholic Secondary Schools Union), UMPASS (Union of Managers of Private Secondary Schools Union) and one association namely, the ACSS (Association of Confessional Secondary Schools). Thus, the Federation has been able to create a united front of confessional and non-confessional schools. By having stakeholders of confessional secondary schools from different Christian denominations, Islam and Hinduism together and alongside non confessional schools, Mauritius provides a unique feature in the world. It indicates that Mauritians have made the choice of plurality, of a diversity of choice for parents and we believe in providing a diversity of schools, with different types of education. However, with the PSEA grant mechanism and the arbitrary functioning of the regulatory body, this essential feature on which lies the very fabric of our society is seriously at stake. Will the government intervene to save our pax et concordia in education and our society at large?
References
Lockheed, M. E., & Jimenez, E. (1994). Public and private secondary schools in developing countries: What are the differences and why do they persist? World Bank, Human Resources Development and Operations Policy.
Abdo, M., A. Assomull, J. Kapoor, and H. Wong. (2019). Private Schools for Public Goods Exploring the potential of privately-run schools to benefit societies. L.E.K. Consulting and Jacobs Foundation.
Crawfurd, L., Hares, S., & Todd, R. (2023). The impact of private schools, school chains and PPs in developing countries. The World Bank Research Observer.
“Countries differ in the terminology used, with some countries adopting the term ‘denominational schools’ (Australia), ‘faith schools’ ( UK) and ‘confessional schools’ (Mauritius). Studies indicate that private schools retain their positive contributions since they strongly hold ideological ideals, such as carrying out humanistic values, maintaining a high expectation culture, and focusing on personal regards. They also raise the importance of private schools under a highly repressive regime. The schools were also found to be effective even when the political atmosphere was very dire and unconducive for democracy in Chile after the fall of the socialist President Allende.”