Secondary Government Schools in Mauritius

pudding wrote:

I urgently need advise / info on what Secondary Government Schools are available for my son, he is in grade 9 in a Government School in South Africa at the moment.  My husband will be taking up his new position on 1 May and we will be joining him around end June beginning July.  I need to find a school for my son and don't know where to start.  I have looked at the Private Schools and all seem to be great, but very expensive!  What I have read up on the Government Schools, people all seem to think they are just as good as the Private Schools.....help??  I don't know how to go about this, or where to start.  Any advise or contact email addresses or sites would really help.

Thanks
T

Hi Pudding

I don't really know anything about how good the government schools are in Mauritius but I think you need some help and I'm sure there are people out there who can help you. Not everyone on this site is an ex-pat and I assume that not everyone out there went to a private school.

How old is your son? Grade 9 in SA doesn't mean anything to me. Where are you thinking of living in Mauritius? You say that you can't really afford private education but how much could you afford to pay per term? Schools like La Bocage are very expensive per term but there must be cheaper private schools out there. Do you want your son to go to an English speaking school?

I'm sure if you answered those questions then that would start this thread rolling.

Hi Kirihyaga

Thank you so much for your response, I was starting to think I wasn't going to get any response!!

My son is 14 years old, turning 15 in July.  We would be looking at staying in Tamarin and yes it would need to be an English school.  If there are private schools that are more affordable that would be great!  As I said, I really don't know where to start!

Please keep the advise coming.

Once again thanks!
Puds

May be you should check this thread , it is a mumbo-jumbo of different schools but  you may learn something from the posts;
https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=6016

Hi

I've been given these two names:

St. Joseph's, Curepipe
St. Esprit, Quatre Bornes.

Both are Catholic schools for boys. They are both government schools.

Obviously, you will need to do a great deal of research to see if this is the way forward for your son.

If you are looking for academic excellence I would recommend the two schools listed above.  There is also St Andrews Grammar School (Anglican tradition) in Rose Hill:
standrewschool.info/

I am currently a student at Saint Joseph's College, and I can assure you that the atmosphere ruling at the college is wholly desirable; it would be quite easy for your son to adapt himself to the new culture; though language might be a barrier, as courses are carried out in three different languages (depending on the teachers): English, French & Creole.
You can get more details from this site:-
-> Wikipedia of Saint. Joseph's College

Thanks everyone for all your input and advice.  Will look into all that has been given to me!

Hi Puds, being of mixed origins, I actually grew up speaking English but completed my schooling in Mauritius, in government schools. teachers can be very understanding and language was hardly ever a barrier as classes were conducted in English. Nonetheless, i dunno if things have changed now. Also, if you're worried about your son 'fitting in' then he might really be better off in a predominantly English speaking environment. the link provided by External is ideal as it lists most, if not all, of the private English speaking schools in Mauritius. wish you best of luck Puds! Take care!

Kirinyaga wrote:

Hi

I've been given these two names:

St. Joseph's, Curepipe
St. Esprit, Quatre Bornes.

Both are Catholic schools for boys. They are both government schools.

These colleges are not state owned.But the level is good.

my brother attended St Joseph's. as far as I know, it's a predominantly French speaking school.

I'm sorry but I don't agree with most posts here. My sister in law is a teacher in a government school and the whole education system is a joke. Students struggle to speak and understand English so teachers are forced to speak the local language of Creole. Also by sending your son to a government school you will also need to pay for tuition outside of school because the standards in the schools are very low, to pass the exams you need to pay for private tuition.

Also private schooling is not that expensive, in the UK you can easily pay £2,000 - £5,000 a term but in Mauritius it's a fraction at around £500 a month. I really wouldn't trust government schools as even the English taught ones are very poor in grammar and pronunciation.

gotta agree with peaches 786 on this one. that's why, in my humble opinion, and if you can really afford it, you'd be better off getting your son private schooled. if the language barrier is sorted out, it'll make fitting in for him that much easier.
i was lucky enough to have a couple of great and understanding teachers, but teachers like that are really rare.

Peahes786 and nerolife, I wish you had got your facts right before posting. Just to give you an idea of how "bad" the state schools are, why don't you just pop up to the University of Cambridge's website and have a look at "O", "AS" and "A" level results? You may be surprised to know that Mauritian students excel and are top of the world in several subjects at both levels. Of course there are problem areas but then which education system doesn't?

Moapatride wrote:

Peahes786 and nerolife, I wish you had got your facts right before posting. Just to give you an idea of how "bad" the state schools are, why don't you just pop up to the University of Cambridge's website and have a look at "O", "AS" and "A" level results? You may be surprised to know that Mauritian students excel and are top of the world in several subjects at both levels. Of course there are problem areas but then which education system doesn't?

uhm... kindly quote me, if you're gonna be dissing something that i said, so that i may have a chance to explain myself.
Or withdraw any statements made wrongfully. i'm cool like that.
however, considering i'm talking about my personal experience, more specifically the language barrier issue which is what the topic starter is interested in and i actually said that state schools are just fine! (i was state schooled for crying out loud) so i don't see why i'm being called out

nerolife wrote:

gotta agree with peaches 786 on this one. that's why, in my humble opinion, and if you can really afford it, you'd be better off getting your son private schooled. if the language barrier is sorted out, it'll make fitting in for him that much easier.
i was lucky enough to have a couple of great and understanding teachers, but teachers like that are really rare.

peaches786
2012-04-22 19:46:01
"I'm sorry but I don't agree with most posts here. My sister in law is a teacher in a government school and the whole education system is a joke. Students struggle to speak and understand English so teachers are forced to speak the local language of Creole. Also by sending your son to a government school you will also need to pay for tuition outside of school because the standards in the schools are very low, to pass the exams you need to pay for private tuition.

Also private schooling is not that expensive, in the UK you can easily pay £2,000 - £5,000 a term but in Mauritius it's a fraction at around £500 a month. I really wouldn't trust government schools as even the English taught ones are very poor in grammar and pronunciation."

There you go nerolife- I quoted you and the post you agreed to

so... i get called out because of a 2 paragraph post made by another user?

i guess some people read what they want to read instead of what is actually written huh.

quotes self "gotta agree with peaches786 on this one"

i don't know if it's obvious to you... but peaches786 mentions several points in his/her post, whilst i make reference merely to one point. as i further illustrate with the language barrier issue, which is the only issue i discuss in each post and which is furthermore, completely based on my personal experience and therefore, does not require facts.

if you'd actually read my posts, you'd find i actually said with regards to state schooling, quotes self "teachers can be very understanding and language was hardly ever a barrier as classes were conducted in English", which in itself, completely strikes off any possibility of me agreeing with peaches786's 1st paragraph.

but hey, i guess you would only have noticed that if you'd actually read my previous posts.

all that being said, you have clearly missed the whole point of this thread anyway by failing to respond to what pudding, the topic starter, requested. you seem more intent on defending issues raised by peaches786, who, by the way, has the right to voice out his/her opinion whether it coincides with yours or not.

but then again, who knows, you might get kicks out of calling people out randomly, even if it means going off-topic. as long as you feel you're doing the right thing by being all defensive about what you believe in

in any case, i would humbly suggest that next time you have an issue with a user's post, kindly ask what the person means rather than making assumptions and judging a person you don't even know. it's the right way of doing things instead of just calling users out simply because you think you're being righteous.

cheers.

Whoah nerolife, calm down!!! This is just a discussion platform! And may I remind you that I did not actually say anything disrespectful to you unlike your own post which reads as very aggressive. Don't take things so personally... and charity does begin at home so read your posts again and you'll find good advice for yourself in there.