ROLE OF PARENT-SCHOOL PARTICIPATION TO IMPROVE EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION IN PRIVATE AND PUBLIC PRESCHOOLS IN MAURITIUS

Abstract

This paper reports a case study of the role of Parent School Partnership in improving Early Childhood Education in public and private preschools of Mauritius in line with current reforms in the education system in Mauritius for free pre-schooling as of 2024. The research objective was to explore the teachers’ perceptions and practices of Parent School Participation in early childhood education to improve the quality of education of the children in preschools of Mauritius. Qualitative research was carried out on a sample of twelve preschool teachers selected through convenient sampling from three private and three public preschools selected through stratified purposive sampling. These schools were of three socioeconomic statuses that are high, middle and low socioeconomic backgrounds. The research tool was open-ended interview questions for teachers of these preschools. On one hand, teachers of private preschools of higher socioeconomic backgrounds involved parent participation to a very high degree and this decreases as we move down the socioeconomic ladder. On the other hand, public schools have a centralized administration, the Early Childhood and Care Authority, and teachers from these preschools are not empowered to include parental participation in school curricular and community activities. Therefore, in Mauritius, the Parent School Partnership is more strongly supported by teachers in private preschools as compared to public preschools and participation of parents decreased down the socioeconomic ladder.