CHAPTER 9: CONCLUSIONS

The aims of the research were broadly two fold: to establish trends and patterns of
achievement and to develop understanding of the processes and intervening
factors which operate at the level of the family and the community to promote or
hinder achievement:

• 9.1 General remarks :

• There have been generally very negligible or statistically insignificant

fluctuations in achievement in an upward direction although sporadic
improvements have been registered in certain subjects areas at all levels.

• The remarkable stability and predictability of trends at CPE is disquieting

insofar as it appears that stakeholders have devised strategies to beat the
system by focusing on specific aspects of the question paper. Given the set
format of any examinations paper, in English for example, 60% of students
earn 0 marks in essays and a large proportion do not even attempt it, and still
score good grades. Benchmarking processes for a pass or a fail have been
devised based on a series of graded competencies spread over a period of six
year for CPE and it is only after six years of schooling that the inability to
demonstrate minimum mastery is formally established. It is probably high
time to review the system of automatic promotion at primary level so that
learning difficulties are identified early and remedied .

• There exists marked performance differentials at the level of subjects, gender

and schools:
(i) The data has revealed that achievement levels in French have been
higher than any other subjects at CPE, SC and HSC whereas
achievement patterns in English is a cause of concern. It appears that
 students are rarely able to make up for their earlier difficulties and that
the number of students in the higher achievement brackets dwindle
systematically as we move up the educational ladder. The better
achievement in General Paper in the very same brackets should be
cautiously interpreted as GP marks not only language but more weight
is allocated to content. The patterns observed raise a number of
pertinent issues in a context where English is the official medium of
instruction and is bound to affect achievement in all other subjects
which require students to express their ideas in English as has been
highlighted in examiners reports for EVS and Business Studies.
(ii) Students fare poorly in Mathematics at CPE level and a marked shift
towards the lower end of the scale has been registered over the period.
The % of students in the D and E range has increased by 20% from
the beginning till the end of the period(1990-2004). Failure % has
remained more or less stable at 30% at SC although at HSC level 35%
score either A or B. Mathematical skills are considered as essential
skills which form the basis of logical thinking. The extent of the
problem can be gauged by taking into consideration that a D grade at
CPE level means that the student has at most scored 50%. The fact that
around 40% of students coming out of primary schooling have not
mastered the ELCs is a sure cause of concern. If one assumes that
ability is normally distributed, the data seems to militate against the
view that schools make a significant difference in the educational
achievement of its pupils. Even with the screening and selection
process that takes place as students proceed up the educational ladder,
patterns are telescoped from CPE, SC to HSC levels.
(iii) The patterns observed strengthens the opposite view that educational
achievement is determined by factors outside the school. Indeed, even
if a consensus is reached whereby the two processes are perceived as
interactive, the precedence must be given to the psycho-social
 approach highlighting the centrality of family background factors in
attainment/ and achievement.
(iv) At SC and HSC, Maths, French and Accounts continue to be not only
the most popular choice but also most scoring subjects. The case of
Business Studies, Economics and Biology is exactly the reverse in
terms of achievement although Business Studies continues to be very
popular, despite the generally poor results candidates seem to display
every year. Two issues need to be underlined here. On the one hand,
what strategies have been devised to address the shortcomings in terms
of our teacher preparation and continuous professional development
and secondly how do we ensure that proper career guidance to students
at the time of subject selection? There does appear to be a number of
myths regarding the facility index of subject and the specific skills that
are necessary to succeed. The situation must be considered taking
into account the number of manhours and other resources which are
injected into teaching the subjects.

• There are relatively striking gender disparities which need to be

highlighted. The indicators used signal that boys’ attainment is lagging behind
girls attainment at all levels even when the statistics are balanced for initial entry
gap. Girls are not only maintaining their lead in ‘traditional’ subjects like
languages, they are also quickly closing the gender gap in subjects where boys
traditionally use to dominate. Girls are also more likely to earn distinction in
language and have lower failure rates in both languages and Maths. In science, the
% failure for girls is decreasing whereas for boys, it appears to follow a more or
less upward trend. The issue at hand is not so much about girls’ achievement but
boys’ underachievement and how to pre-empt the beginning of a problem similar
to the one experienced in developed countries.
• These trends should however not obscure the fact that boys in high
performing schools still achieve very consistently and that the gender variable
become more acutely visible when coupled with variables of school type of low
performing private schools in suburban areas. However, in the highest performing
state schools, girls maintain their clear lead.

• School type is the third parameter which registered differential

achievement. On a first round of region wise of CPE trends across Urban, Rural,
Coastal, Suburban demarcation, the “school type” effect appears prominently –
Urban schools, because of the 5 star schools, lead the way followed by rural, sub-
urban and coastal schools. Achievement differentials are widest in English and
Maths and lowest in French and EVS. The Confessional, State and Private
schools categories showed clearly the lead of State schools in almost all subjects
in the high category bracket although for Confessional schools, the distribution is
less skewed. No direct conclusion can be drawn, but could we potentially attribute
this statistical feature to a different orientation in philosophy of education and the
publicly declared philosophy of liberal education and a model of inclusive
pedagogy that is claimed to be adopted by the latter.

• The ‘distance’ between Private versus State and Confessional schools

must be underlined but interpreted with caution. Confessional and State schools
have standards of infrastructure which are comparable. But, such is not the case
of private schools where there is a wide disparity among educational facilities,
teacher qualifications etc. If these parameters are not monitored / or accounted
for, it is difficult to attribute a causal relationship between school type and
educational achievement . Generalizing would then obscure intricate trends.

• In addition to this, there is also the differential clientèle effect given

that till 2000, streaming was applied and the best students were absorbed in SC
and HSC. If there is already differential intake at entry point, then one can
conclude that the school effect is almost null. This is a seriously worrying
indication of one, analyses the outcome of schooling in an output-input model.
• Sciences also present a dismal picture of low achievement especially
in average and low performing private schools. There does seem to be a relative
problem of under-achievement in girls’ confessional schools regarding science
when their performance in other subjects are concerned.

• One striking feature of the data at the CPE level is the stability around
average achievement across subjects, school type and gender. The % of students
scoring grade. C is remarkably stable and this bracket appears to be totally
immunized against change. This seems to be in stark contrast with the well
received belief that teachers generally teach for the average students.

• Changes in A and B are mirrored in the D and E grades. The pattern

produced in terms of ability distribution is the exact opposite of the bell curve.
Why is our system and our schools producing such a statistical pattern? Such a
statistical phenomena, which is contrary to prediction, needs to be understood in
the light of an examination that has long been constructed as a selection process
and our system has been exam driven. Pedagogical processes may have been
oriented towards the benchmarks set for examinations rather than curriculum
guidelines.

• The achievement patterns produced at different levels coupled with the

analysis of examiners report gesture strongly towards poor language skills and an
inability to help our students to think autonomously. The examiners report across
a number of subjects at both CPE, SC and HSC converge in highlighting the view
that many students do not show evidence of having developed higher order
thinking skills needed for analysis and evaluation, not to mention divergent
thinking/problem solving. The excellent performances of candidates at the higher
end of the spectrum, should however be noted .

• The last point relates to our understanding of evaluation and of the

function of schools. It was posited in chapter I that one of the reasons for mapping
achievement was to assess the returns of the country’s investment in education.
Though it was acknowledged that the benefits of education could not be measured
at a point of time but over time, it was also underlined that in Mauritius, the only
concrete measure of achievement was the trends of students’ performance at the
level of end of cycle examinations. The picture which is produced reveal a dismal
pattern of achievement heavily tilted at the lower end of scale. Using the
educational production function approach it seems empirically legitimate to claim
that returns on the national investment is very low in quantitative terms.

• The questionnaire revealed that the educational achievement

trends of the sample for the period under study match the findings of the
population data obtained in the first part . Low achievement in English is carried
over till the end of schooling whereas achievement in Mathematics is reversible.
Such data is supportive of the socio- linguistic approach to language learning.
The inadequacies of the social environment appear to be a serious hindrance to
language learning which explains the irreversibility of trends in English.
• In conformity with the existing literature which posits that
the role of the family is central to explaining achievement, the data from both
Survey and Case studies reveals the variables of parents education do impact on
both attainment and achievement. But these variables are located within a
complex social matrix consisting of the peers, neighbourhoods and communities.

• Parents with a higher educational attainment were more

likely to meet teachers to learn about their children’s performance. A large
number of parents only visited the schools on open days and their basic concern is
academic achievement. It appears that parental involvement is perfunctory and
reactive rather than pro-active and informed. Parental involvement is construed as
a key factor impacting on education in the current research landscape and has not
been given enough attention in the Mauritian context. The systemic deficiencies
in this regard needs to be addressed
• The role of parents in setting high expectations and creating a
home atmosphere which is conducive to achievement motivation has been
established in the case studies. High educational and life achievers have had
parents who have taught them at an early age the skills and values which have
effectively prepared them to face the demands of school or work. Parents who
encourage autonomy and initiative foster a strong sense of self and high efficacy.

• Participants whose parents demonstrated high level of

“demandingness” together with support have achieved more, although there is a
hint that authoritarian parents may very well work against the achievement of
their children. A strong and strict discipline set with clearly defined parameters in
early years strongly influence children’s perception of themselves and their later
attitude towards efforts and delay of gratification.

• The life stories of some participants whose parents were not

highly educated indicate that low educational achievement of parents was not
necessarily a barrier to achievement of their children. The home lifestyle defined
in terms of discipline and belief in hardwork and the worth given to education
could also make up for formal educational achievement.
• Families have themselves been heavily influenced by the
overarching principles and values set by their neighbourhoods and communities.
The social worth of education has been highlighted in some neighbourhoods and
communities while they have been discounted in others. The neighbourhood and
community effects could offer a partial explanation to the patterns of achievement
of schools in sub-urban and coastal regions as compared to urban and rural
regions. Family capital appeared to have been a derivative of social capital and
both strongly impinge upon life trajectory.
• Social Capital is articulated in terms of access to free tuition,
educational resources, networking and availability of high achievers as role
models in the micro and meso system. The provision of these seem to have
 enable single headed families or families with low resources to overcome their
initial “deficiencies”.
• Some individuals succeed against all the odds and despite
their families and neighbourhoods. The intrinsic drives related to own personality
as well as the availability of positive role models within the micro and meso
systems also enhance the chances of success.
• Peers seem to have played a crucial role in life of
respondents. The data has revealed that the peer group can influence educational
expectations and aspirations as well as provide a support system whereby vital
educational information is transmitted and decisions taken. Peers could also
provide enhanced motivation whether they function on competitive and
collaborative lines.
•
9.2 Food for Thought
Two central issues have emerged from this study:
(i) The blatant underachievement of our system. Starting from the premise that
ability is normally distributed in our student population at primary level, it is
clear that our schools are not enabling the realization of the innate potential of
our children. Indeed, schools appear to be doing exactly the reverse! The
entire system needs to be overhauled and a completely new paradigm adopted
instead of a piecemeal approach . If we are at all serious and honest, as a
nation, in our belief that education can transform our economy and society, we
demonstrate the courage to do away with bureaucratic, and often, political
resistance emanating from interest groups whose main priority is the
maintenance of their supposed privileges. The system of education must be
emancipated from the political and bureaucratic inertia which has
characterised it and produced the patterns of achievement . Schools as
agents of change must do more than lip service by embracing fully the new
roles which are being charted out. Blaming the parents and the society for its
inability to make any difference in the lives of children is indication enough of
a self – complacency which has compounded our problems. However, schools
 must be empowered to take decisions at diverse levels and become vibrant
communities .
(ii) The micro and meso processes at the level of the family described here belong
to a particular setting and time. While there is a strong case for re-dynamising
parental involvement and educating parents as to how they can become
facilitators, we must also acknowledge that there is a limit, in today’s
economic and social context, to what homes and some parents can do. The
school will necessarily have to take up new roles and develop those socio-
emotional skills which families and neighbourhoods used to teach. For this to
happen, the school must itself function on community lines on the lines of a
Gesellshaft institution not a bureaucratic and contractual one. Buffer
institutions like socio- cultural organizations, clubs, etc must be revived
because they do have a crucial role to play but they cannot replace the schools
in providing the missing link.
9.3 RECOMMENDATIONS
Based on the findings of the research it is recommended that:
(i) There is a need to revisit assessment procedures in order to enable a more
comprehensive measurement of the outcomes of educational achievement in
the broadest sense of the term. Assessment for learning must be construed as
central to enhancing the efficiency of our resource use instead of only
Assessment of learning.
(ii) The system of automatic promotion must be revisited and even discarded
altogether in primary because it compounds the problem of failure.
(iii) Poor educational achievement must be addressed by all stakeholders
concerned and teachers must be supported in proposing strategies which
account for individual differences. At entry point, it is suggested that a profile
of strengths and difficulties of the child be drawn and used by the teacher to
document progress or shortcomings.
(iv) Continuous professional development for teachers must be envisaged for all
teachers at all levels. Emphasis must be given to training in remedial
education.
(v) Quality Assurance procedures which are both output and processed oriented
must be applied at all levels of the educational sector.
(vi) Language teaching must be seriously revisited to integrate innovative
pedagogies which based on an approach which seeks to develop generic
language skills rather than a particular content. The teaching of English must
be revitalized as it is the medium of instruction for all other subjects and
prevent our children from achieving their full potential in other subjects.
(vii) Concrete and realistic benchmarks and achievements targets must be set every
year and the responsibility equally shared by the school and parents. The
government must seriously consider the introduction of legal structures
compelling parents to be involved on a number of occasions and as and when
the achievement or behaviour of their children warrants it. This is of course a
short term and radical measure.
(viii) A new boost must be given to parental involvement in their children’s
education either via the formal channels of the school or via community-based
organizations. There is a need to strengthen the community to support parents
in the education of the children.
(ix) Systemic deficiencies at all schools levels which keep parents at arms length
or even exclude them from involvement in academic and socio-scholastic
enterprise have to be urgently addressed.
(x) Parents must be given the skills to guide their children and to communicate
with schools and teachers. Parental education programmes must be
intensified. Models of success of programmes run by governmental
organizations and non governmental organizations must be extended.
(xi) A media campaign and public forums could be organized to support schools’
effort in involving parents. A bridge must be created whereby the expectations
of schools and the conditions for success are conveyed to parents.
(xii) Mauritius must participate on a more regular basis in international surveys
regarding achievement in key skills at primary level in Maths, language and
science to ensure the quality of educational outcomes.
(xiii) Lack of both accountability and control perpetuates a wasteful and self
defeating system. It is imperative that all agents within and outside the formal
system become accountable and take responsibility for educational
achievement
(xiv) A National Inspectorate as an instrument for monitoring guiding, scaffolding
and evaluating academic performances has been more than overdue. It is not
only imperative to, once for all ,set it up but also, to make it fully functional
and effective
(xv) There is need for Regional Directorates to produce mandatory reports of
overall performances indices and educational achievement trends in the
respective zones and take up remedial/corrective measures
(xvi) Teacher Associations, in the guise of professional bodies, need to be
encouraged to assume a central stance to issues pertinent to teaching and
learning.
(xvii) Heads of School need to have regular meetings with staff to address broad
curriculum development issues to produce better educational achievement
scores.
(xviii) Schools need to produce yearly achievement reports and plough back their
own recommendations, into the Teaching and Learning processes.
(xix) Results breakdown for all schools must be made public and have to be posted
in Regional Centres and on respective schools notice boards. There is need to
see quality rather than misleading percentage rates.
(xx) There is need to address the general reading habits or its deficiency in
Mauritius. The culture of reading need to be packaged and proposed to the
Mauritian population at large as a congenial and strategically appropriate
instrument to foster greater intellectual development.
(xxi) The assessment of private tuition and its impact on educational achievement
needs to be researched to produce a true picture of schools’ efficacy at
producing academic-results,