The war against the Mauritius College continues. The Union of Private Secondary Education Employees (UPSEE) organised a peaceful demonstration in front of the Private Secondary Education Authority (PSEA) to speed up the decision on the fate of 9 teachers whose contracts have already been terminated by Mauritius College, 15 days before the completion of one year of service.
The fight against Mauritius College has been going on for years, the UPSEE has even requested that the management of this college be taken over by the PSEA for mismanagement, something that Article 5A of the PSEA ACT of 2016 allows. The reason for the demonstration on Thursday 09 is due to the abusive dismissals of 9 educators who received their letters without any valid reason according to the UPSEE which concedes nevertheless that these educators were taken on a fixed-term contract
“It is true that the confirmation of these teachers was based on the Satisfaction of the institution. But these letters of thanks do not contain anything of value in that sense. They are full of allegations,” says Arvind Bhojun, UPSEE secretary.
Indeed, the completion of one year of service automatically leads to the confirmation of the educator in the institution where he/she offers his/her services. “The management of Mauritius College uses this ploy of thanking the educators beforehand, so that they do not have to confirm them. But on the other hand, the same college is recruiting educators from who knows where without any interview. PSEA is well aware of the situation. Headmaster Mahesswarnath Luchoomun has been telling us for some time that he is looking for a legal solution to the illegal actions of the Mauritius College management. We can no longer accept that PSEA is protecting the management of this College to such an extent,” said Arvind Bhojun, secretary of UPSEE, in front of the PSEA premises in Beau Bassin.
The latter also says that these nine teachers in question were referred by the said authority, “What is surprising in this case is that these nine teachers did not apply directly with the management of the Mauritius College. They did not respond to a direct tender. They were referred by PSEA, so they were eligible educators for these positions and for these classes. A substitute cannot do the work of a specialist teacher in this area. The students are the biggest losers, but so is justice,” says Arvind Bhojun. The UPSEE is waiting for an answer on the fate of these nine.
A PSEA official said that “this case is under investigation. The fact remains that these 9 teachers were on a fixed-term contract. We thus cannot treat the cases as dismissal. The cases around Mauritius College have been referred to the State Law Office”. Namely, the UPSEE had organised a press conference on Thursday, June 2, to list the denunciations against the management of Mauritius College, pleading that the PSEA exercise its rights and powers in response to the Mismanagement, but also the recasting of the same authority, namely the PSEA, for its laxity in its actions towards Mauritius College, among others Management of other multi-problem colleges.
