Africa-Press – Mauritius. A consultative meeting with stakeholders of the secondary sub-sector was held this morning at the Paul Octave Wiehe Auditorium in Réduit. Organised by the Ministry of Education and Human Resource, the event brought together student representatives, including prefects, members of student councils, head girls and head boys from secondary schools across the island.
The Minister of Education and Human Resource, Dr Mahend Gungapersad, the Chief Technical Officer, as well as a technical team of the Ministry participated the event.
In his address, Minister Gungapersad underscored that the consultative exercise forms part of a democratic process designed to give students a meaningful voice in the reform of the education system. He emphasised that the proposed blueprint is not final and will not adversely affect current students, as it is being developed progressively based on data, technical work and inputs gathered from consultations.
He highlighted the importance of students’ well-being, freedom of expression and the diversity of views, while stressing that the reform process does not follow a one-size-fits-all approach. The Minister also commended the work of the technical teams and noted that students’ views were being recorded openly to ensure transparency and accountability.
The Minister further called on students to act as ambassadors of positive values within their respective schools, underpinning the importance of discipline, respect, emotional intelligence and solidarity. He underlined that the education system must cater for all learners, including high achievers, average students and late developers, as every child matters regardless of academic performance or background. Emphasis was also laid on fostering a safe and positive school climate and protecting vulnerable students.
The consultative process, the Education Minister, will continue, particularly with students, to allow sufficient time for technicians to refine proposals on key areas such as secondary admission modes, the grading system and gender balance, with the objective of building a more equitable, inclusive and future-ready education system for Mauritius.
The meeting served as a participatory platform enabling students to voice their views, concerns and proposals regarding the draft blueprint for the transformation of the Mauritian Education Sector. Through open discussions and exchanges, the initiative aimed at ensuring that learners’ perspectives are taken into account in shaping future education policies and reforms in an inclusive and transparent manner.
