Explaining the Low Primary School Performance in the Rural District of Black River, Mauritius: A Teacher’s Perspective

• Main Author: Perienen Appavoo Appavoo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kathmandu University 2014-09-01
• Series: Journal of Education and Research
• Subjects: Certificate of Primary Education (CPE); teachers; parents; community; school performance
• Online Access: http://kusoed.edu.np/journal/index.php/je/article/view/113
• ISSN: 2091-0118; 2091-2560

Pass rates at the end of primary schooling for the rural district of Black River arealarming as they have remained at a low level over many years. This researchseeks to explain the situation from a teacher’s perspective and to unveil the causeswhich persistently hamper student progress. Statistics show that children in BlackRiver are on a par with their counterparts in other rural and urban areas in respectto access to school facilities, qualified teachers, and provision of pedagogicalmaterials and learning tools. This study shows that students’ motivation, followupof learning at home and parents’ involvement in children’s studies are at anunacceptable level and require urgent consideration. The last two determinantswere found to be positively related but the correlation coefficient is not very high(r = 0.518). Analysis also points to the low and inadequate level of pre-primaryeducation of children when they enter primary schools, and to the difficultiesof teachers in educating children with social problems. One seminal findingof this research study is that, without sustained parent/community support andencouragement, learning performance of students in the Black River region isunlikely to improve. This finding is in agreement with the results of many studiesreported previously in the literature. Respondents made some valuable suggestionsfor remedying the situation, the most important one being the need to implementcommunity-based strategies to encourage parents and the surrounding community tosupport the education of children.