Principals’ perceptions of “quality” in Mauritian schools using the Baldrige framework
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JEA-02-2012-0022 |
| Date | 09 August 2013 |
| Pages | 680-704 |
| Published date | 09 August 2013 |
| Author | Jean Claude Ah‐Teck,Karen Starr |
| Subject Matter | Education |
Principals’ perceptions of
“quality”in Mauritian schools
using the Baldrige framework
Jean Claude Ah-Teck and Karen Starr
School of Education, Faculty of Arts and Education, Deakin University,
Melbourne, Australia
Abstract
Purpose – This article aims to report the findings of a research project explo ring Mauritian
principals’ receptivity to the main tenets inherent in Total Quality Management (TQM). The Malcolm
Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA) framework (aligned with, and an outcome of, the TQM
movement) provides a set of criteria for organizational quality assessment and improvement in the
business, healthcare and education sectors. Given the imperative to improve the quality of schools in
Mauritius, this study was designed to investigate the usefulness of the widely accepted MBNQA
framework in the Mauritian context.
Design/methodology/approach – A nationwide questionnaire survey of school principals explored
the nature and strength of the Baldrige theory of relationships between leadership, systems and
processes of primary and secondary schools and the ensuing outcomes. Correlation and regression
analyses were conducted.
Findings – The findings indicate that Mauritian school leaders play a critical role in influencing
school outcomes directly and indirectly through the inner workings of the schooling system.
Research limitations/implications – The research relied on principals’ views as the unique source
of data about school leadership. The perspectives of the other stakeholders within schools, including
teachers, students and parents, should also count and would offer a richer description of leadership
reality in Mauritian schools.
Originality/value – This is the first ever study assessing empirically the notion of “quality” in
primary and secondary schools in Mauritius at the national level. It contributes new perspectives
about leadership for school improvement.
Keywords Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA), Mauritian education system,
School improvement, Quality education, Educational leadership, Schools, Education, Le adership
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
It is generally agreed that providing a high-quality education system is crucial for
a country’s economic development and international competitiveness (Miller, 2001;
Romer, 2008). In view of repositioning Mauritius to meet the needs of an increasingly
competitive, knowledge-based and globalized economy, the government is attempting
to develop the country into a “cyber island” that would be a “knowledge hub” in
the Indian Ocean, conveniently located between Africa and Asia (Castells, 2001;
Chan-Meetoo, 2007; Ministry of Education and Human Resources (MEHR), 2006a).
However, concerns that the education system has not been adequately preparing
students for work and life and unsatisfacto ry academic achievement in schools have
fuelled the government’s drive to explore ways to redesign the education system and
improve the quality of schools. To this end, the “Government is committed to carrying
out fundamental reforms in education with a view to providing World Class Quality
Education to enable young Mauritians to be employable in new sectors of the economy,
to have more fulfilling jobs and also to be competitive at the international level”
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/0957-8234.htm
Received 13 February 2012
Revised 27 February 2012
22 May 2012
9 August 2012
Accepted 12 August 2012
Journal of Educational
Administration
Vol. 51 No. 5, 2013
pp. 680-704
rEmeraldGroup PublishingLimited
0957-8234
DOI 10.1108/JEA-02-2012-0022
680
JEA
51,5
(Ministry of Education, Culture and Human Resources (MECHR), 2009, p. 10). The
ongoing reform policies undertaken since 2001 are to be se en in this context.
A fundamental aim of the various educational reforms is to further democratize
education and provide “quality” education for all Mauritian children, in the spirit of
the goals and objectives set by the World Education Forum on Education for All (EFA)
in Dakar in 2000 (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO), 2000). The Dakar Declaration seeks to achieve EFA by 2015 and requires
all nations to expand participation in education while “improving all aspects of the
quality of education and ensuring excellence [y] so that recognised and measu rable
learning outcomes are achieved by all, esp ecially in literacy, numeracy, and essential
life skills” (Saito and van Cappelle, 2009, p. 2). This is also aligned with the strategic
objectives defined by the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (United
Nations, 2006).
Ironically, as acknowledged in the Mauritian “Rat Race” policy (Ministry of
Education and Scientific Research (MESR), 2001, p. 1), “the majo r dysfunction of the
Mauritian educational system is to be found in the bottleneck situation” cre ated by
the highly selective Certificate of Primary Education (CPE) examination, “con straining
access from primary to secondary education” for ma ny of the nation’s children.
To illustrate this, the document mentions that, for the 18,000 children passing the
CPE examination, only 1,000 places are available in the small number of so-called
“star” schools, perceived as providing “quality” education at the secondary level. The
majorityof the other schools, considered as low-achieving or sub-standard, do not attract
enrolments and are resented by parents (A h-Teck and Starr, 2012). Consequently,
education structures systematically segregate students into “star” schools andother less
desirable schools that curtail the education experience of a huge percentage of
Mauritian children. Although every Mauritian child is guaranteed a seat in a state or
private secondary school, there is severe comp etition, evocatively referred to as the
“Rat Race” among the children, to have a chance to enrol in the “star” schools.
The competitionfor acceptance into “star” schools emphasizes the “end” rather than the
“process” of learning and exerts immense psychological pressure on both the children
and their parents, let alone life-long consequences in terms of employment and further
education opportunity.
A further parado x is that although all children have access to primar y education,
a significant proportion of them cannot successfully remain in the system. The average
failure rate on the CPE examination over the years 2001-2005 stands at over one third
(Ministry of Education and Scientific Research (MESR), 2005), indicating that the
primary school system is not delivering basic lear ning outcomes after six years of
schooling for a significant proportion of pupils. This situation is at odds with the view
that “[a] quality education system must manage to provide all children and young
people with a comprehensive education and with an appropriate preparation for
working life, life in society and private life” (Fredriksson, 2004, p. 2), while putting in
jeopardy the long-term economic competitiveness of Mauritius as a global player.
Mauritius, as a small island country that relies largely on its people as its key resource,
cannot afford to lose a significant proportion of its human capital if it wants to compete
in the global economic market.
Reflecting the Mauritian government’s “quality” agenda and its focus on the work of
school leaders, this paper repor ts the findings of research exploring principals’
receptivity to the main ideas inherent in total quality management (TQM), their views
about how quality improvement issues are being or may be addressed, and whether
681
Principals’
perceptions
of “quality”
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