Early Years Informal Science Education Programme in Mauritius: A Systemic Approach by the Rajiv Gandhi Science Centre

Abstract

Children are budding scientists. They are active explorers of the environment and may learn much about the living, material and physical world through play. The inherent curiosity of young children needs to be nurtured and sustained by the adults present in their life: parents and teachers. This would be possible only if these adults are adequately empowered to support science learning opportunities in young children. In this chapter, we describe how the Rajiv Gandhi Science Centre, as a centre for informal science learning, is implementing its early science education programme in Mauritius. We discuss the systemic approach undertaken by the centre through a strategy of collaboration between teachers, parents, children, as well as supervisors of the early childhood education sector. The educational programmes of the centre include a science exhibition by pre-schoolers and continuous professional development of teachers. We attribute our success to the institutional collaborations and support of the Ministry of Education, Tertiary Education, Science and Technology. Finally, we identify some opportunities that the science centre and similar institutions, may explore to support the teaching and learning of science in the early years.