The Ministry of Education’s communiqué contradicts the Private Secondary Education Authority (PSEA)’s circular of 7 January, which has not yet been rectified, to private secondary schools. Courses for Grades 7 and 8 should not have been given to the MBC channels and the Student Support Portal (SSP). Private secondary schools are thus required by the rules to keep the courses for these two grades online, until further change by PSEA.
Resumption actually
The resumption of the third term of primary and secondary school is scheduled for Monday 10 January. According to the statement issued by the Ministry of Education on Saturday 8 January 2022, distance schooling will be maintained for all grades until 31 January 2022.
Grades 1 to 6 will take their classes on the four MBC channels. For Grades 9 to 13, classes will be mainly online via platforms such as Microsoft 365, WhatsApp and Zoom but only until Wednesday 2 February 2022, where classes for Grades 9, 9+, 11, and 13 will be face-to-face. For the tertiary level, classes will resume online on 10 January as well. As for pre-school classes, the Early Childhood Care and Education Authority issued a statement on Saturday that classes will not be held in person for the month of January but on the ECCEA website https://www.tipti.org and also on MBC channel 3 as from 11 January.
Grades 7 & 8: a suspense
But for those in Grades 7 and 8, their courses will be available on the Student Support Program (SSP) and on MBC channels. (Note: The Ministry of Education issued a statement on 6 January stating that online courses for all secondary school grades would resume on 10 January).
For both grades, the circular of the Director of the Private Secondary Education Authority (PSEA), Mahesswarnath Luchoomun dated 07 January states “… Educators are to use other platforms such as Zoom and Google Classroom to kick start online teaching for Grades 7 and 8, pending arrangements being made for the credentials for Microsoft Office 365. The creation of Office 365 logins for students in Grades 7 and 8 is underway…” (Below the circular)
Didier Moutou: “The two orders are in total contradiction”
The PSEA has not yet issued a new circular that will be in line with the Ministry’s communiqué. “The Ministry’s communiqué concerns grades 7 and 8 in general and not for public schools. We will be waiting for a second PSEA circular before we are eligible to follow what the Ministry is asking. The two orders are in total contradiction and given that we are under the management of PSEA, all public schools will have to take into account the circular of January 7 at the beginning of the school year on January 10. For the time being, educators, students, and, parents are in a state of confusion,” says Didier Moutou, Rector of Bhujoharry College in Tour Koenig. He does not hide the fact that “online courses, especially for Grades 7 and 8, are in the interest of the students because in the absence of face-to-face teaching, students, especially for the start of a decisive third term, need regular follow-up from teachers as well as real-time reconnection and interaction with their teachers and classmates”
