What happened to alternative lower-secondary education in Mauritius? : The Extended Programme as a case of misguided curriculum, unfair assessment, and social injustice

Abstract

The recent Nine-Year Continuous Basic Education (NYCBE) reform has brought about a dramatic change in the provision of alternative lower-secondary education in the Republic of Mauritius. Whereas the previous prevocational education (PVE) programme allowed educators to make use of an aims-based curriculum to respond to the learning profile of children marginalised within the primary education system by formatively catering for their holistic development in an inclusive and integrated manner and preparing them for vocational pathways, the new extended programme (EP) proposes to engage those same learners with a knowledge-based curriculum that focuses heavily on subject learning and high-stakes examinations. Our aim in this article is to examine, through the lens of social justice, the aims, objectives and expectations of the two alternative education programmes, and elaborate, by looking at aspects of curriculum, pedagogy and assessment, on how the EP ends up being a fundamentally flawed and poorly implemented programme that undermines the development and potential for human flourishing of the learners concerned. Implications for educators involved in the programme will also be touched upon.