Madam Speaker, following the “Assises de l'Education et des Ressources humaines” held in Mauritius and Rodrigues in April and May 2025, respectively. My Ministry is in the process of developing a strategic plan, blueprint, for the transformation of the education sector for the Republic of Mauritius. The views and proposals shared by stakeholders during the “Assises de l'Education” as well as the specificities of Mauritius, Rodrigues and Agaléga have been duly taken into account in the drafting of the document. Madam Speaker, in Rodrigues the eight existing secondary schools admit student to grade 7 based on – 1. Grade aggregate obtained by the candidate in the PSAC assessment; 2. Parental choice; 3. Distance between the residence of the candidate and the school allocated, and 4. Availability of seats. With regard to part (a) of the question, I wish to inform the hon. Member that my Ministry will together with the Commissioner for Education of Rodrigues, examine the possibility of including one or more schools as National Secondary Schools for Rodrigues. With regard to part (b) of the question, I wish to inform the hon. Member that during the “Assises de l’Education et des Ressources humaines” held in Rodrigues in May 2025, the proposal to abolish co-education was not raised by stakeholders. In fact, learners in Rodrigues are accustomed to co-education right from pre-primary to secondary level. My Ministry will consult the Commission for Education for Rodrigues and other Rodriguan stakeholders during the ongoing discussions in the context of the upcoming transformation in the education sector.

34 Madam Speaker, with regard to part (c) of the question, I wish to inform the hon. Member that my Ministry is examining the modalities of allowing students from the regular streams who have repeatedly not succeeded in the lower secondary classes to join the Foundation Programme in Literacy, Numeracy and Skills subject to the consent of the responsible parties. As regards those students who are experiencing difficulties at mid-lower secondary level, they are encouraged to explore other sectors of education which would be better adapted to their competencies. In fact, the Mauritius Institute of Training and Development (MITD) offers several courses to students who have completed three years post-primary schooling including those who are below 16 years old. Thank you.

Thank you. Yes!

Madam Speaker, I thank the hon. Minister for his reply. Will the hon. Minister consider the improvement of the courses run at MITD so as to cater for what he has just said regarding the repeated failures?

Thank you, hon. Member, during the “Assises de l’Éducation et des Ressources humaines” held in Rodrigues proposals were made and MITD has taken good note of it and soon these will be implemented.

Yes, are you okay? Next question is from the hon. Second Member for Rodrigues, hon. François! SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS – IMPLEMENTATION