Eight non-traditional subjects off Sals’ list as from next year |04 August 2018
As of next year, the School of Advanced Level Studies will no longer offer courses in eight non-traditional subjects.
Education and Human Resources Development Minister Jeanne Siméon made the announcement yesterday in a press conference at the ministry’s conference room.
The eight subjects are Psychology, Law, Art, Accounting, Economics, Business, Travel and Tourism, and Sociology.
The decision followed a proposal to the Cabinet of Ministers to enhance the effectiveness, efficiency and capability of the school to increase the steady output of students qualifying for scholarships for tertiary university studies.
The proposal got the Cabinet’s approval for the reduction in the number of subjects offered by the School of Advanced Level Studies (Sals) effective January 2019, in line with the Cabinet decision of December 2013, with a view to boost Sals’ capacity to improve the achievement of its core mandate in the context of the emerging competitive landscape for providing quality education and training beyond compulsory education (Secondary 5) in preparation for university level studies.
During the press conference in the presence of principal secretary for education Dr Odile de Commarmond and consultant in the ministry Selby Dora, Minister Siméon explained that the introduction and implementation of the new and non-traditional subjects have been accompanied by a number of challenges which impacted negatively on the cost-effectiveness of the strategy and student performance in these subjects.
These included the employment of expatriate teachers, part-time teachers and teachers with inadequate experience in the teaching of A-Level subjects.
Additionally, students from state secondary 5 enrolling at Sals have limited pre-requisites in some of the subjects given these subjects are not offered at the level of state secondary schools.
The decisions by all private schools to offer A-Level studies at the level of their institutions, along with the increasing number of professional centres offering programmes with comparative entry requirements to programmes of study at the level of Sals that can lead to direct access to university level studies have also greatly influenced the decision.
This development has been further enhanced by the State of the Nation address (Sona) 2017 by President Danny Faure with regards to scholarship opportunities for students graduating from professional centres.
Furthermore, the strategies considered by Sals over the last five years, namely, the lowering of entry requirements and the increase of the number of students through the introduction of non-traditional subjects have not resulted in the expected results, given the challenges associated with the mentioned strategies.
As part of the process of finding sustainable, cost-effective solutions to the challenges experienced by Sals to improve the number of students who meet the minimum scholarships points yearly, an independent study was commissioned in 2017.
The process of the study included interactions with key personnel at the level of Sals and the elements of study were shared with the leadership of the school for consideration.
Among the recommendations for promoting a more rationalised, cost-effective and performing Sals for 2019 and beyond, are that the school should implement a stricter protocol of documented subject combinations giving greater focus on improving student performance in traditional subjects – Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, History, Geography, Computing, Literature in English, French, English Language – being offered since 2012 given that these subjects are most recommended for university level studies.
Also, Sals should establish, document, and implement clear minimum requirements in regards to qualifications and teaching experience to qualify a person to be eligible to teach at the level of the institution.
The school should also review and raise the entry requirements to programmes in subjects retained with a view to enroll students who opt for Sals’ route to pre-university level studies with better academic profiles into these programmes and as a consequence, significantly improve the institution’s chance to produce a steady flow of students achieving the established number of points to qualify for university studies in line with its core mandate.
Teachers affected by the discontinuation of the listed subjects will be re-deployed accordingly as per the best fit principle considering existing vacancies at other levels.