New Textbooks for Ten Materials

"It should be noted that textbooks ten materials of Forms I-III undergoing changes this year," said Amritlall Kundun, Senior Manager, Department of Marketing Publishing Indian Ocean (EOI). Relevant subjects are English, French, Mathematics, Design and Technology, Home Economics, Social Sciences, Physical Education and Computer Studies, among others. At the Upper Secondary, textbooks General Paper, English (Form V) and Computer Studies (Forms IV-V) experienced changes.

"The change is part of the implementation of the 'National Curriculum Framework' since 2012 approved by the Ministry of Education and Human Resources where all curricula have been reworked. "The changes are made step by step for Forms I to III, because it required that the books meet the new Framework. It is by using these textbooks that students can correctly answer the new format questions in National Assessment Form III, "he said.

Amritlall Kundun, Senior Manager, Department of Marketing Publishing Indian Ocean, pointed out that other changes are expected with the introduction of 'Nine-Year Schooling. "The implementation of the 'National Curriculum Framework' wants to ensure that students have a better understanding of materials," he says. The budget for the purchase of textbooks for Forms I-III amounts between Rs 1,500 and Rs 3,000, the Form V at Rs 3,500, Rs V of Form 2500, as most of the books Form IV are reused. Textbooks for Form IV costs Rs 4000 at least.

By cons, Prithvi Fowdur, CEO of Antara Editions Bookstore, is the "absurd" change. "There is no valid reason for making this kind of change where a hundred pounds of various materials will no longer be used," he said.

The 'Language resourcers Centre' (LRC) prepares books for Form V in languages Urdu, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi and modern Chinese who will be accompanied by an electronic version. These books will be available on the market next year. Vinaye Goodary responsible LRC, pointed out that "this project has been initiated since a great lack of books in oriental languages for Forms IV and V was found on the market in Mauritius." The LRC was established after the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Mahatma Gandhi Institute (MGI) and the Central Institute of Indian Languages Mysore, India. These books are designed by lecturers of MGI and RTI and are sent to India for correction. They are then published in Mauritius.