|The history of education in Mauritius can be tracked back to 1778 when a “College Royal” was opened. However, education was restricted to a privileged class unit 1815, when Reud. Jean Lebrun started a free primary school in Port Louis. Side by side with Government efforts, various religious organisations also played an important part in fostering the creation of educational institutions. In 1944, far-reaching reforms were brought in the educational system and as from 1947, with new constitutional development; there was a rapid expansion in primary schools.
Since independence, new dimensions have been added to education. The whole system has been gradually democratised. New government primary and secondary schools were opened and more classrooms were added to existing schools. The University of Mauritius became fully operational and the Mahatma Gandhi Institute was created. The Mauritius College of the Air, the Mauritius Institute of Education, a Sea Training School, a Hotel and Catering Training School, Trade Training Centres and a Lycée Polytechnique were set up. A Department of Law and the Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Centre for Medical studies were created at the University of Mauritius and the Mauritius Examination Syndicate instituted. However, the most prominent landmark was the introduction of free secondary education in 1977.
Pre-Primary education
Pre-primary schools are mostly self-financed and privately operated by individuals or community organisations while some pre-primary classes are run by the Government in some primary schools. The policy of the Government is to encourage community participation in the pre-primary sector while providing training for all pre-primary school teachers. A pre-primary unit has been set up to look after this sector. It provides training programmes, runs pilot classes, supervises the schools and provides resource materials to the different centres. A pre-school Trust Fund was set up to mobilise funds...