𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 !

Read in Yesterday’s Le Mauricien :

ÉDUCATION — 𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒓𝒊é𝒕é 𝒅𝒖 𝒅é𝒑𝒖𝒕é 𝑺𝒂𝒖𝒎𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 — 𝑶𝑪𝑬𝑷 : 𝒓𝒆𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒆𝒕 𝒔𝒖𝒃𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒅𝒖 𝑮𝑴 𝒅𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒖𝒏 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒙𝒕𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒍𝒆. 𝑳’é𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒅𝒆 𝑭𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕-𝑺𝒊𝒅𝒆, à 𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒍𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒔 𝒑𝒂𝒔 à 𝒑𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒅𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒖𝒙 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒍è𝒈𝒆𝒔 𝒅’É𝒕𝒂𝒕, 𝒂𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒉𝒆 𝒖𝒏 𝒕𝒂𝒖𝒙 𝒅𝒆 𝒓é𝒖𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒅𝒆 9,09% 𝒆𝒕 8,77% 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒂𝒖 𝑺𝑪 𝒆𝒕 𝑯𝑺𝑪 2025.

Extract: “𝘈𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘲𝘶𝘦 𝘭𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘦 𝘭’É𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘔𝘢𝘩𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘎𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘥, 𝘢 𝘵𝘪𝘳é 𝘭𝘢 𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦 𝘥’𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦 𝘥𝘦 𝘭𝘢 𝘱𝘰𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘦𝘵 𝘭’𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭è𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘷é𝘴, 𝘭𝘢 𝘗𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘚𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘌𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘈𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺 (𝘗𝘚𝘌𝘈) 𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘥’𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘢 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 à 𝘶𝘯 𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘷𝘦𝘢𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭è𝘨𝘦 : 𝘭’𝘖𝘊𝘌𝘗 𝘊𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘦, 𝘳𝘦𝘣𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘴é 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵-𝘚𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘚𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘊𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘦, 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘶 𝘥é𝘱𝘶𝘵é 𝘥𝘶 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦 𝘙𝘦𝘻𝘢 𝘚𝘢𝘶𝘮𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺. 𝘌𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵-𝘢𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥, 𝘭’𝘦𝘹-𝘖𝘊𝘌𝘗 𝘱𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘢 𝘯𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘶𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘳 𝘭’é𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦, 𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘲𝘶’à 𝘙𝘴 1 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘱𝘢𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘪𝘴, 𝘥é𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘥𝘦 𝘭’é𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘥𝘦 𝘭𝘢 𝘗𝘚𝘌𝘈, 𝘱𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦."

𝘾𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙙𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙗𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙋𝙧𝙞𝙫𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙎𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙧𝙮 𝙀𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝘼𝙪𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙮 (𝙋𝙎𝙀𝘼)!!!

The PSEA is withdrawing state subsidies from St Bartholomew’s College (Port-Louis) and Royal Holloway College (Montagne-Blanche) starting January 2027 as both schools no longer meet the regulatory minimum threshold of 150 students required to qualify for financial grants. ( same old fixed criteria despite the overall decline in student numbers),

A new subsidized school is being authorized right before a major sector-wide restructuring, especially given its location near two existing state schools while 𝙎𝙩 𝘽𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙬'𝙨 𝙘𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙜𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜-𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙖𝙙𝙫𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙙 𝙨𝙩𝙪𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙘𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙚𝙙.

The administration and community of St Bartholomew’s College have launched a public appeal to reverse or delay the Private Secondary Education Authority (PSEA) decision, arguing that the closure disproportionately punishes the most vulnerable segments of society.

During a press conference, the manager of St Bartholomew’s College, Bijay Chukowry, formally requested a two-year moratorium (grace period) from the government. 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙤𝙡'𝙨 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙥 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙡𝙖𝙞𝙙 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙛𝙞𝙘 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧-𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙖𝙡𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙘𝙪𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙩𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣.

𝙏𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙩𝙪𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨, 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙛𝙪𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙪𝙨𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙋𝙎𝙀𝘼'𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙜𝙪𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮 𝙛𝙧𝙖𝙢𝙚𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠 𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙨 𝙨𝙤𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙚𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙩𝙮:

𝗧𝗵𝗲 "𝗦𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲" 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹: Public testimonies highlight that St Bartholomew’s has historically accepted underperforming students or those from low-income backgrounds who were rejected by larger state and elite private colleges. Critics argue that by removing state subsidies, the government is shutting down a vital safety net that gives marginalized youths a "second chance" at an education.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁-𝗦𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗦𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗲: The core of the public anger stems from a perceived double standard. Critics question why the state is aggressively stripping funds from an active institution that serves underprivileged youth, while simultaneously processing a brand-new subsidy framework for a newly rebranded facility owned by an influential political figure.

𝗔 𝗕𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗜𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗲: St Bartholomew’s is not an isolated incident. Six grant-aided private colleges have already closed since 2024 due to falling enrollment. Critics point out that treating education strictly as a cost-saving balancing act—saving roughly Rs 1 million per month per closure—ignores the human cost to families who cannot easily relocate or adapt to larger, less individualized state school environments.

The PSEA maintains that students will be reassigned to schools closer to their residences and permanent staff will be absorbed by other schools, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒈𝒖𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒖𝒄𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒄 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒒𝒖𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝑺𝒕 𝑩𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒘'𝒔 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝑷𝒐𝒓𝒕-𝑳𝒐𝒖𝒊𝒔'𝒔 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒂𝒅𝒗𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒉.