Should PSAC examination be abolished?

Opinion

Rather than foisting society’s woes on primary schools, we suggest that primary education can play a significant role in improving the quality of life of our children and grandchildren

By Sada Reddi

Pending the approval or review of the report on education by Cabinet, one may venture one or two thoughts about the PSAC examination and curriculum change. These are not intended to bring about any major change in the primary school system but simply to invite stakeholders, particularly educators and parents, to reflect on whether abolishing the Primary School Achievement Certificate (PSAC) examination merits consideration and whether sports activities should become a major discipline in the primary school curriculum.

Kids playing recess games. Pic – Playworks

Over the last decades, it is well known that all curricular reform proposals have resulted in negotiations between the Ministry of Education, school institutions and educators, and in the process, it is educators who have decided which curricular change or pedagogy should be adopted, rejected or simply ignored at classroom level, as most curriculum changes are never based on empirical research in our local context and are merely imaginings of an administration disconnected from ground reality. This is especially so in Mauritius, where consultation with educators is often given lip service. So this is why educators are invited to think about the abolition of PSAC and to consider widening the curriculum beyond academic subjects.

Over the decades, it is well known that curricular reforms have involved negotiations between the Ministry of Education, schools and educators. Yet, ultimately, it is educators who determine which curricular changes or pedagogical approaches are adopted, rejected or simply ignored at classroom level. This is because many curriculum reforms are not grounded in empirical research within our local context, but are often the product of an administration disconnected from the realities of the classroom. This is particularly so in Mauritius, where consultation with educators is too often given lip service. It is in this context that educators are invited to reflect on the abolition of PSAC and on the need to broaden the curriculum beyond purely academic subjects. 

Examinations have been an evil necessity and have had multiple objectives, and one of their main functions has also been to select students for the next level of education. In Mauritius, this has restricted access to higher classes and also to other institutions, especially at primary level. The selection function can be traced at least to the Ward Report of 1941.

In recent years, this function has been streamlined in various ways but has never been abolished. In the past, it was partly justified on the grounds that there were not enough primary schools because colonial education did not envisage more than basic literacy for the mass of the population, while secondary education was reserved for the elite to serve in the colonial bureaucracy.

Despite this colonial ideology, it had unintended consequences, namely a demand for more educational opportunities, which resulted in the creation of various elites in the course of time, both in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. In the 1960s, about 54 primary schools were built so that each village had a primary school.

At present, one may well ask if the PSAC examination at the end of primary schooling is worth retaining. There are several reasons to explore this line of thought. One important factor is the demographic trend in our school population.

In January 2026, about 8,000 pupils joined primary schools, and, on the other hand, it has been announced that all pupils will join regional colleges at the end of the primary cycle, suggesting that there are seats for all who want to join government schools, especially as 40 per cent of Grade 1 pupils will opt for private schools.

In this context, one may well argue that the selection function of PSAC has become redundant. Since we all know that examinations fulfil other functions, such as evaluating the acquisition of knowledge, skills and other competencies, these functions can still continue at classroom level without the need for a final national examination, especially as these are already being implemented internally.

The abolition of PSAC becomes even more pertinent when the Government itself is considering the abolition of the National Certificate of Education (NCE) examination, with access to national colleges based on internal assessment. It is ironic that we are contemplating the abolition of the NCE while the primary cycle, which forms the foundation of our educational system, remains examination-driven. It is at this level that we must first focus our attention, particularly with the advent of AI, which is set to shape our uncertain and inexorable future as it increasingly enters the nooks and crannies of our lives.

Since the future is unknown, what is certain is that AI is already shaping our present society and will increasingly do so in the years ahead. It is in the primary sector that we need to equip our children with the skills, competencies and resourcefulness to face this uncertain future. With AI, knowledge can be acquired with a simple click, while Artificial Intelligence can already perform tasks beyond the capabilities of any individual.

We are already seeing many jobs being transformed or becoming redundant. Clerical work, accountancy, legal research and management functions will increasingly be automated, while new jobs will emerge involving AI agents capable of managing, building and repairing technology.

In the health sector, software can already analyse scans and MRIs and produce detailed reports that no individual practitioner could prepare as quickly; a doctor may simply need to review and customise them where necessary.

AI can write books and reports and even imitate the style of a Nobel Prize winner. Already, we see articles generated by AI appearing in our local newspapers and on social media.

Nevertheless, we will continue to need more hands-on occupations that AI cannot easily replace — jobs requiring human contact, empathy and practical skills, such as education, nursing and other professions requiring a range of soft skills. Even food production could become increasingly automated. In Japan, for instance, a fully automated agricultural factory can reportedly produce 20,000 heads of lettuce a day.

Given that these changes are already happening and universities are being compelled to revisit their mode of operation, curriculum, evaluation and certification to cope with the changing needs of society, the primary curriculum will also need to factor in these changes.

While we are not suggesting a review of the curriculum, it is necessary for all of us to consider giving sports activities a major role in the curriculum and even making them a core area. What we are suggesting is that we increasingly abandon the hiatus between academic and supposedly non-academic subjects, with particular reference to physical and sports activities, arts and music.

One has to realise that by making sports a core area of the curriculum, we will be preparing and inculcating in our children from an early age an intrinsic interest in remaining physically fit and developing their cognitive skills and other moral values, which will be beneficial for their overall development throughout their lives. Waiting to do so at secondary level is too late.

Sports, arts, music and other indoor or outdoor activities are developmental processes that perhaps we may not have associated with these subjects in the past, although a few secondary schools included them as an integral part of a well-balanced general education. These areas of study are known to contribute to physical fitness, decision-making, strategic thinking, moral values, team spirit and imagination. They also encourage children to ask questions that may never have been asked before and ultimately prepare them to remain human in an increasingly technological society where they risk losing their soul.

We all know from our personal experience and from what we see around us, in our families, among friends and in society at large, how the absence of physical and leisure activities has taken a toll on the lives of so many people who suffer from all kinds of diseases, dementia and Alzheimer’s. Far from foisting society’s woes on our primary schools, we are suggesting that primary education has the potential to contribute significantly to enhancing the quality of life of our children and grandchildren.

It is in this perspective that we invite educators and parents to give some thought to the importance of the primary curriculum and to make the school system a freer environment for teachers and learners, where pupils would be free to pursue their interests in various areas without the shadow of a stressful examination hanging over their young heads.

It is therefore time to think about whether we should retain the PSAC, which has outlived its selection function in a fast-changing society.

Mauritius Times ePaper Friday 28 August 2026