NINE YEAR SCHOOLING IN MAURITIUS - POLICY ANALYSIS AND IMPLEMENTATION

In order to meet the challenges of the future, reforms have been found to be necessary in all fields. Reform in education is the first step towards greater changes in the country ahead. An educational reform at this point in time is an indication that our country is on the right track on its path to progress and adheres to the fact that Mauritius is no longer considered as a developing country but a newly developed country. Nevertheless, educational reform is a high risk political activity which is invariably accompanied by controversy and resistance. This paper aims at looking at this major educational reform in Mauritius. It also provides a framework to analyse reforms in education.

Data for this study was obtained through policy papers, official documents, newspapers and interviews and afterthoughts of high profile individuals in the field of education. Content analysis was performed and an existing framework, used for reforms in health service system was proposed to analyse the data.

The results show that there are many hurdles on the way ahead and proper planning as well as adequate resources are key to make this reform a success. The research also shows the adequacy of the modified framework to be used in order to analyse reforms in educational system.