Ministry of Education strives to remain connected with stakeholders |01 June 2013
The following feature brings you an overview of the various focus areas on which the Ministry of Education has placed greater emphasis during the past weeks.
Minister’s visit to primary schools
To mark the beginning of the second term, a delegation including the Minister for Education, Macsuzy Mondon, visited three primary schools – Port Glaud, Grand Anse Mahe and Anse Boileau.
Minister Mondon, accompanied by her principal secretary Merida Delcy and her director general for schools Odile Octave, took the opportunity to attend assembly, hold discussions with school management and visit students and teachers.
The three schools were chosen for the visit based on their considerable improvement in the 2012 primary six national examinations last year. These primary schools had adopted and implemented a number of good practices and strategies to improve their students’ results, as well as their overall performance.
Teacher consultative meetings
Throughout the month of May a series of consultative meetings were held with all teachers from primary to secondary schools on Mahe. This initiative forms part of the ministry’s efforts to reinforce communication, promote two-way dialogue to ensure that there is constant discussion and dissemination of information to teachers.
The meetings with teachers were inspired by the success of the first series of meetings held last year, which improved communication and dissemination of information between the ministry’s headquarters and teachers in schools.
The meetings also sought to promote more in-depth discussions on issues and challenges being faced and provided a platform for teachers to openly share their views on issues affecting teaching. One of the most critical issues debated was teacher recruitment and retention.
Campaign against under-aged drinking
The Ministry of Education entered the second phase of the campaign against under-aged drinking launched during the month of April, through a second symposium for parents on 
Parents are regarded as one of the key partners in the fight against under-aged drinking and for that reason the main objectives of the session were to educate, raise awareness and enlist the support of parents to address issues relating to early alcohol consumption by youths and the impact on the health and wellbeing.
Apart from sharing vital information through the various presentations, the symposium provided an opportunity for parents to ask questions and bring forward their recommendations to help the ministry in drafting further actions and more effective strategies in the fight against alcohol consumption by youths.
Following this session with parents the campaign will be branching out to schools, to bring information closer to other parents and students – another drive to ensure awareness is raised on not only the dangers of under-aged drinking but also to reduce the negative impacts under-aged drinking has on teaching and learning.
Education Minister and Principal Secretary performing class observations
National Curriculum Framework (NCF) and National Assessment Framework (NAF)
The Centre for Curriculum, Assessment and Teacher Support (CCATS) held a consultative workshop with various education partners on Wednesday May 15, 2013.
The main objective of the workshop was to engage the participants in the development and finalising of two important documents – the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) and the National Assessment Framework (NAF).
The NCF was presented by Dr Marie-Therese Purvis and the NAF by Mr Egbert Benstrong, the two consultants who led the formulation of the frameworks. The workshop saw the participation of numerous key partners and stakeholders namely members of the National Assembly, principal secretary for Education Merida Delcy, principal secretary for social affairs Linda William-Melanie, head teachers, representatives of non-governmental organisations, parents, students and education officials.
Participants present got the chance to discuss pertinent issues and concerns with regards to the two frameworks, as well as make suggestions of possible solutions or amendments that can be made to improve the documents.
The NCF and NAF are expected be finalised soon, after which both documents will be officially launched by the Ministry of Education.
Classroom observations
In the ministry’s bid to provide greater support to schools and ensure further improvement in teaching and learning in the various government educational institutions, the ministry has began a series of classroom observation sessions.
SALS Staff during meeting with Education Senior Management (photo top)
The observation team ranges from members of education senior management, Centre for Curriculum Assessment and Teacher Support (CCATS) as well as schools division officials.
Staff meeting at School of Advanced Level Studies (Sals)
A delegation led by the Minister Mondon and which included principal secretary Delcy, coordinator for technical and further education development Jean Alcindor, along with the acting principal for the School of Advanced Level Studies Hervé Young met all staff of Sals on Tuesday May 21 for a sharing session.
The highly interactive session involved discussions and responses from Sals staff as they shared their views, challenges and recommendations to the education management panel. Numerous important points for consideration were raised, which provided greater insight to the ministry into the operations of the school.
With a plan to continue to ensure priority issues are addressed, such staff meetings present an ideal opportunity for not only the staff to voice out their concerns on matters that affect them in their work environment but also create a direct communication link between staff and management.