Louis Steven Obeegadoo Minister of Education & Scientific Research Politically active since 1976, Honourable Louis Steven Obeegadoo was first elected to the Parliament in 1991 and occupied the portfolios of the Minister of Labour & Industrial Relations and of the Minister of Fisheries & Marine Resources in 1996 and 1997 respectively. In September 2000, Honourable Obeegadoo was appointed Minister of Education & Scientific Research. He obtained his M.Sc in Economics in 1984 from the City University, London and studied Law at the Inns of Court School of Law, London, where he obtained his Post-Graduate Diploma in Law in 1986. He was called to the Bar in 1988 at the Middle Temple, England. Subsequently, he was a practicing Barrister from 1988 to 1995 and from 1997 to 2000. Hon Obeegadoo’s engagement as Minister of Education & Scientific Research has been highlighted by the major reforms that have been initiated since 2001 in the Mauritian Education system as a whole.

The Quality Education and Social Inclusion

Over the last few years, Mauritius has been deeply involved in a thorough revamping of its education system and a central leitmotiv has been the associative linkage between the provision of a quality education and the need to circumvent social exclusion in a fast evolving society.

Indeed, Mauritian society is changing at a fast pace and there is a paramount need to improve the competencies of all so that the development of lifeskills that would guarantee both the adaptability of the learners to a changing world environment and their future trainability is ensured. To attain these twin objectives, there has been a review of the traditional and arrested curriculum with the introduction of new learning areas like Information Technology (IT), Science and Health Education right from the Primary level itself. Citizenship Education has equally been introduced at that level to make living in a multiicultural society a worthwhile endeavour such that a sense of responsibility is manifested by the children vis-à-vis themselves and their environment.

Such transformations have not excluded those with learning difficulties. Two major thrusts have been developed for learners who had been erstwhile marginalized from the ‘mainstream’. The Education Action Zones (Les Zones d’Education Prioritaires) and the Pre-Vocational Education Strategies have necessitated a rethinking as to the ways in which major stakeholders including teachers trained in differentiated pedagogy and the community can more fully be involved in the provision of a quality education.

The actions mentioned above are to be seen as part of an overall policy of providing an 11-year compulsory and free education for all as from January 2005. This pre-supposes also that a set of essential competencies are defined to ascertain that all children leaving school at the age of 16 have the essential and relevant survival kit, comprising as well the thinking skills, that will guarantee their flexibility in adjusting to a society that can no more do with prescriptive living.