EducationPublicConsultationNorthernRegionDEC2019 Education ministry continues with regional consultative meetings |05 December 2019
The consultative meeting for the northern region of Mahé (Photo: Jude Morel)
The Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development (MEHRD) announced on Tuesday that the ‘Education Terms and Conditions of Contractual Obligations Regulation 2019’ aimed at guiding education stakeholders mainly the school leadership, teachers, students and parents at respecting education principles, policies and strategies, is in its final preparation stage and will be implemented sometimes in 2020.
It was the education special advisor Merida Delcy who made the announcement during a public consultation education meeting for the northern region on Mahé.
The meeting with the high officials from the ministry was held at the Savoy Resort and Spa and was attended by persons affiliated with the Beau Vallon primary school, Beau Vallon secondary school, Bel Ombre primary school and the Glacis primary school. That included the school’s management, teachers and also members of the school council. Also present were district administrators from the region. It was a follow up to a similar meeting held in November 2018 at the same venue.
Apart from Mrs Delcy, the panellists also comprised the principal secretary for early childhood, primary and secondary education Dr Odile de Commarmond, the principal secretary for higher education and human resource development Dr Linda Barallon and other ministry officials.
The Minister for Education and Human Resource Development Jeanne Simeon said with this years’ education theme ‘Education a shared Responsibility…Way Forward’, it is impossible for the ministry to accomplish everything by itself without the involvement of its partners.
She noted that for education to succeed there needs to be a consented shared responsibility involving education official, parents, the community and other stakeholders.
Minister Simeon said that the ministry is always happy to meet and to listen to comments, suggestions and concerns from partners as it helps the ministry to plan better policies and strategies for the way forward.
Answering to some pertinent points raised in the meeting of last November, Dr de Commarmond said these had been taken into account and addressed by the ministry during 2019, although not all have been finalised yet.
She said that the lack of personnel on the school council was an issue, where not all schools in the region had a complete team, and this has been rectified now in that all councils having a complete team.
As for the lack of uniform material, she noted that this is now available for parents to buy.
PS de Commarmond also said that the change of colour of uniform for the Beau Vallon secondary school will take effect in 2021 and that more effective disciplinary actions are being implemented to combat disciplinary incidents in schools.
On the schools’ performance from 2014 to 2018, especially in English, Mathematics and Combined Science, Dr de Commarmond explained that they were not satisfactory and even though much is being done to monitor the students’ performance in the region, there is still more work to be done to raise the level of both the students and the teachers as well.
She said that the schools in the region still face some challenges related to bullying and she noted that the ministry is working with the schools on new strategies and other disciplinary actions to curb this bad practice.
Dr de Commarmond affirmed that the ministry is finalising a policy on grade repetition that will allow students to jump classes or repeat the same class which hopefully will be implemented in 2020.
Following the various presentations by the ministry officials, on the formulation of a new communication strategy, infrastructure projects, exam results for 2018 and on the new TVET project among others, the parents were invited to voice out their concerns and suggestions. But only a few parents participated in the discussions which were mainly related to the emergency exit road for Beau Vallon primary and secondary, fencing for Beau Vallon crèche, exam time frame for S1 students, fire drills, infrastructure, scheme of service for school counsellors, covered area for outdoor activities for Beau Vallon primary school and the bus schedule for Glacis primary among others.
Thanking the parents for their contribution, Minister Simeon expressed her disappointment at the number of parents who came to the meeting which showed a lack of interest as they could have contributed more if they were present.
She urged parents to visit and work more closely with their respective schools for the benefit of their children.
She hoped for better participation of parents in the next meeting in 2020.