I express my sincere appreciation to all
the participants, distinguished experts from the academic world, education
policy makers and ministers, for sharing their experience and knowledge with
all of us. As the Minister responsible for tertiary education, science,
research and technology, I particularly appreciate the intense debates on
post-secondary and higher education over the last three days at the University of
Mauritius. The Government of
Mauritius will continue to play an active role to bridge the gap in education
and will support the initiatives of the Commonwealth Secretariat. In this
respect, I am pleased to state that in response to the invitation from the
Commonwealth Secretariat, the
University of Mauritius has agreed to host and waive the tuition fee for one Commonwealth
scholar and the Open University of Mauritius will offer 54 scholarships to
students from the Commonwealth for distance education post graduate courses. We
may come from distant lands and have different cultures and traditions. But we
share common goals. Education is central to all economic and social models. We
are therefore, bound to work together for the future of our younger
generations. I thank the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Association of
Commonwealth Universities, all the Ministers, vice chancellors and delegates
for their presence. I wish to thank them all for their friendship and honouring
us by their presence in our country.
