St Bartholomew's College Takes PSEA Funding Battle to Supreme Court

A Port Louis secondary school is taking the government's private education regulator to Mauritius's highest court, arguing that a decision to strip its funding is arbitrary and potentially driven by political motives.

St Bartholomew's College, which currently enrols 93 students, has filed for leave to bring a judicial review against the Private Secondary Education Authority, known as the PSEA. The case is scheduled to be called on 16 November 2026. The school is represented by avoué Luchmun and barrister Noor Hussenee.

The PSEA is the statutory body responsible for regulating and funding private secondary schools in Mauritius. On 28 September 2026, it notified St Bartholomew's that its subsidy would be withdrawn from January 2027, citing the school's failure to meet a minimum enrolment threshold of 175 pupils, which the authority considers necessary for a school to be economically viable. Without that subsidy, the college says it cannot continue to operate.

In an affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court, the school's management challenges the 175-pupil threshold on two grounds. First, it argues the figure has not been updated since 2003, despite a dramatic fall in the school-age population. The college points to statistics showing roughly 27,573 candidates sat the Certificate of Primary Education exam in 2003, compared with 16,264 registered for its successor, the Primary School Achievement Certificate, in 2026. That is a decline of approximately 41 percent. If the threshold were adjusted proportionally to reflect that drop, it would fall to around 103 pupils, a number that St Bartholomew's, with 113 students in 2025, was still exceeding.

Second, and more seriously, the college alleges that the PSEA's decision is tainted by factors beyond the official enrolment criteria. The affidavit stops short of detailing the full argument, as the original source was truncated, but the school's management appears to suggest that political considerations may have influenced the authority's ruling, a claim that could carry significant weight in judicial review proceedings.

What this means: Judicial review is a legal process by which a court examines whether a public authority has acted lawfully and fairly. If the Supreme Court grants leave, the full case will be heard and judges could quash the PSEA's decision, forcing the authority to reconsider. This matters not only for St Bartholomew's but potentially for other small private schools across Mauritius that are struggling with falling rolls and face similar subsidy risks. The case also raises a broader question about whether regulations built for a larger student population remain fit for purpose in a country where birth rates have been falling steadily for two decades.

Source: ION News