Mauritius to make science a compulsory subject up to school certificate level

The project of the Mauritius government to make it compulsory for all college students to do science subjects up to School Certificate level is taking shape, APA learns in the Mauritian capital Port Louis.

A release from the ministry of Education on Saturday in Port Louis indicates that a pilot project is being set up with the participation of 10 colleges, including five private secondary institutions and five state colleges.

The communiqué adds that more colleges will have to join the project next year and that by 2011 it will become compulsory for all colleges of the island.

Elaborating on the project, the release indicates that as from January when the new academic year begins, all students of the 10 colleges who are in form three will have to follow a new course - 21st century science.

The programme which has been prepared with the help of Cambridge International Examinations will include physics, biology and chemistry.

The course will be included in the examinations of the School Certificate, the release states.

Also the release indicates that participating colleges will have to submit each month to the ministry a report on the performance of students.

The communiqué reveals that presently an Integrated Science subject is compulsory for all students for two years. After that when students join form three they are free to choose what they want to study and 7 out of 10 do not choose science subjects.

It adds that the government has taken the decision to make science subjects compulsory following a recent report of the Science and Innovation Audit of the Mauritius Research Council which indicates that less than 25% of students sit for science subjects at the School Certificate examinations and that such a small number is largely insufficient to meet the government’s target for the development of the country.