The fate of 87 private secondary schools will soon see a change. In great suspense, but also angry since October 15, the New Federation of Managers has been invited for a round table with the officers of the Ministry of Education this Thursday, January 6. The full financial management by the Private Secondary Education Authority (PSEA) will be on the table but also they will try to understand their relationship with this ministry and the government.
Waiting for a fair formula
This meeting was fixed after a letter dated 29 December 2021 was sent to the concerned ministry on these matters of interest. The federation members will be face to Minister Leela Devi Dookun-Luchoomun at 10:30 am at the Ministry of Education headquarters in Phoenix. They have no idea what the minister will propose on the new subsidy formula for private colleges. As Ramdass Ellayah, President of the Mauritius Private Secondary School Union (MPSSU) says, “we are just waiting for the proposals to be fair to all private secondary schools and for the future measures to have less conflict of interest.
The Subject of Interest
The New Federation of Managers consists of the Union of Managers of Secondary Schools, Managers of Private Secondary Schools Union, Roman Catholic Secondary Schools Union and Association of Confessional Secondary Schools, the Diocesan Catholic Education Service, and the Union of Managers of Private “A” Secondary Schools. The dispute was over a circular dated 15 October last year requiring them to account for each of their current expenditure, to submit a project plan for each intended development, and to wait for approval from the PSEA before they could take it off the ground. There was also a minimum of 40% reduction on the Block Grant for each school concerned. This was the subject of a PNQ by Opposition Leader Xavier Luc Duval at the December 7 sitting following a SEDEC press release entitled “PSEA decisions: a threat to the survival of grant-aided colleges”, where Minister Leela Devi Dookun-Luchoomun made it clear that there would be no hint of interference, saying “there is nothing wrong with the PSEA release”. Will this new proposed subsidy formula on Thursday be well received? We’ll keep you posted.
