About Me

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Dr Jeetah was elected Member of the National Assembly in December 2003 for the first time for Constituency No.7 (Piton/Rivière du Rempart), and remained so until April 2005. Dr Jeetah was re-elected as: • Member of the National Assembly for Constituency No.11 (Vieux Grand Port-Rose Belle), in 2005 and became Minister of Industry, Small and Medium Enterprises, Commerce & Cooperatives (2005 to 2008).He became Minister of Health & Quality of Life (2008 to 2010). • Member of the National Assembly for Constituency No.10 (Montagne Blanche- GRSE)in 2010 and became Minister of Tertiary Education, Science, Research and Technology till 2014. Education and Qualifications: a. University of Cambridge (2002 -2003) - ACU Research Fellowship b. University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST) (1984-1993) • BSc (Hons) – Textile Technology • PhD – Textile Technology

'CEREMONIE DE SIGNATURE DE CONVENTION D’ASSOCIATION ENTRE L’UNIVERSITE DE LIMOGES ET L’UNIVERSITE DES MASCAREIGNES'


 
 
 
CEREMONIE DE SIGNATURE DE CONVENTION D’ASSOCIATION ENTRE L’UNIVERSITE DE LIMOGES ET L’UNIVERSITE DES MASCAREIGNES
VENDREDI 10 OCTOBRE 2014

·       Madame la Présidente de l’Université de Limoges, Professeur Helene Pauliat,
·       Monsieur Vincent Gloaguen, Vice-Président de l’Université de Limoges,
·       Professeur Guillon, Président de l’Université des Mascareignes,
·       Monsieur le représentant de l’Ambassade de France,
·       Les directeurs des universités et les chefs d’établissements,

Je suis heureux d’être présent cet après-midi à cette cérémonie de signature d’une convention d’association entre l’Université de Limoges, représentée ici par Professeur Hélène Pauliat, Présidente de l’Université et l’Université des Mascareignes. 
Cette Convention d’association revêt une importance singulière.  Elle accompagne en effet une réforme de l’enseignement supérieur qui conduit l’université des Mascareignes à se réorganiser selon les mêmes schémas et à se rapprocher des partenaires européens en facilitant la reconnaissance réciproque des diplômes.
Voici déjà deux ans depuis la création de l’Université des Mascareignes et hier on remettait les diplômes aux premiers détenteurs des doubles diplômes de l’Université des Mascareignes, double diplômes, c’est-à-dire un diplôme de l’Université des Mascareignes et un diplôme de l’Université de Limoges.
Ce partenariat s’ajoute à un ensemble des accords déjà en vigueur et nous marquons une nouvelle étape, étape déterminante.
Cette convention – je reprends quelques extraits du texte – «  vise à renforcer les liens déjà établis et définit les termes d’un partenariat structuré entre les deux partenaires, afin d’assurer, au-delà de la création de l’université, son développement et son rayonnement. »
Cet accord qui se focalise sur quatre axes, notamment la formation, la recherche et l’innovation, la mobilité internationale et la gouvernance, va renforcer notre coopération.
Il est  important de souligner que cette convention aidera l’Université des Mascareignes de s’adapter aux normes européennes et à accomplir son passage aux diplômés nationaux. Ce sera un premier grand accomplissement de Maurice et même dans cette région du monde dans le domaine de l’enseignement supérieur.
Je suis heureux de constater que cet accord servira aussi de tremplin à un plus large partenariat avec une communauté d’universités qui sera mise en place par l’Université de Limoges et qui comprend les universités de la Rochelle, Orléans, Poitiers, Tours et le CNRS entre autres.
Permettez-moi, Madame la Présidente, de vous réitérer ma profonde gratitude pour cette assurance de partager avec nous l’expérience, le savoir-faire et le professionnalisme de l’université de Limoges et de contribuer à notre vision de transformer ce pays en un hub de la connaissance.
Je vous prie de bien vouloir transmettre à Madame Geneviève Fioraso, Secrétaire d’Etat chargée de l’Enseignement Supérieur et de la Recherche, notre sincère appréciation pour son  engagement à soutenir l'Université des Mascareignes, un engagement  qui encourage et motive davantage  tous ceux qui ont été associé à la création de cette institution et en particulier  les jeunes étudiants.
Aussi cette collaboration est porteur de véritables avancées dans le secteur de l’enseignement supérieur, secteur « clé » pour le développement du pays.
Il ne me reste plus qu’à souhaiter un bon et long cheminement ensemble entre l’Université de Limoges et l’Université des Mascareignes qui avec cette convention d’association, s’imposera comme un joyau dans le paysage universitaire de la région.

Je vous remercie pour attention.

‘Seminar Academia – Industry Interaction on International Institute of Technology Research Academy (IITRA) ‘

 


Speech - ‘Seminar Academia – Industry Interaction on International Institute of Technology Research Academy (IITRA) ‘
Thursday, 9 October 2014-  Time: 13:00 hrs
I am pleased to address you at this seminar on the interaction between the IIT Research Academy of Mauritius and industry.
As you are aware, the setting up of an IIT like institution in Mauritius in close collaboration with the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi is the first of its kind outside India. The IIT’s are institutions of international reputation with high standards of education and research.
Classified as institutions of national importance in India, they have produced distinguished scientists and inventors. Three of them, including IIT Delhi ranked among the top 300 higher education institutions worldwide in the QS World University Rankings .
The IIT Delhi itself which started in 1959 offers numerous undergraduate and postgraduate programs in various scientific and engineering areas, and operates 11 Inter-Disciplinary Centres and 3 Schools of Excellence.
We have every reason to be proud of the setting up of an IIT like institution in Mauritius, one of the most important achievements in the field of higher education. It is important to know that the setting up an IIT like institution was not an easy process. This project has come to realisation after many unsuccessful attempts over several years and after intensive negotiations with the Indian authorities. In fact, this is the first time that an IIT like institution is being established outside India with the authorisation of the IIT Council and the Government of India.

The objective of this institution is to promote scientific excellence and foster technology development in Mauritius by setting up state of the art scientific and technical researchfacilities, to generate new cutting-edge knowledge into practice.The IIT Research Academy isstarting its activities in November 2014, with the recruitment of students andhigh level faculty members- all of them with PhD’s and solid research experience.
 During the first two years, the institution will be offeringMasters and PhD programmes in the field ofComputer Science & Engineering and Electrical & Electronic Engineering. Professor Ishtiaque, the Executive Director of the IIT Research Academy will provide more details on the areas of research and programmes of studies.

It is also important to know that IIT Delhi has appointed Prof Ishtiaque, a former professor of the IIT Delhi as the Executive Director of the IIT Research Academy. The implementation of this project is being overseen by a Steering Committee which includes Prof Shevgaonkar, Director of IIT Delhi and Prof S. Koul, Deputy Director.

This gives  us the confidence that the IIT Research Academy will be set along the lines of the IIT Delhi and that there would be no compromise whatsoever on standards and quality of the education and research .

Let me also inform you that the selection of candidates will be carried out by IIT Delhi and all qualifications – Masters and PhD – will be awarded by the IIT Delhi. The curriculum and courses and all academic matters will all be approved by the IIT Delhi.In fact, the institution which is operating temporarily under the aegis of the Mauritius Research Council is expected to evolve into a full-fledged international institute. Adraft IIT legislation is under preparation to give the institution full awarding powers and autonomy. 

This IIT Research Academy is expected to become a leading research institution in the fields of Science and Engineering. Another aspect that I would like to highlight is that IIT’s have their own ethos and culture – based on innovation and out of the box thinking and a strong sense of professionalism. 
It is therefore very crucial for industry partners to actively participate and collaborate with theinstitution to develop the industry oriented education and research activities at the IIT Research Academy Mauritius.
Mauritius is aspiring tomove into the category of high-income status countries. According to figures released on 18th July 2014 by the World Intellectual Property Organization, Mauritius is ranked first among 33 countries of Sub-Saharan Africa on the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2014 – notable in this year’s rankings. The greatest strength of Mauritius is its institutions, where it performs above the average score of the high-income economies.
It needs to upgrade its human capital, particularly in science and technology. Achieving sustained national development lies through the development of a new scientific and technological culture, built around quality-oriented and collaborative partnerships with world class institutions.
This meeting with the key economic sectors is meant to be a starting point for a continuous dialogue and interaction between industry and the IIT Research Academy. In order to make industry and academic linkages a standard feature in all universities, Government has made it mandatory for all public universities to establish consultative committees chaired by a private sector representative. Government has also allocated Rs 100M for collaborative research grants with private sector operators.
In addition to this provision, universities and academia can consider other means of interactions such as
Ø forming and accessing networks and stimulating social interaction;
Ø influencing the direction of research processes among users and suppliers of technology and fundamental researchers;
Ø meetings andconferences;
Ø hosting standard-setting forums;
Ø establishingentrepreneurship centres;
Ø contract research or  cooperative research with industry,
Ø providing access to specialised instrumentation and equipment,
Ø  incubation services,
Ø promoting alumni networks ; and
Ø personnel exchanges (internships, faculty exchanges,etc) as well as joint industry-academia visiting committeesand collaboration on curriculum development.
The IIT Research Academy being a new institution with a high level of ambition to promote research and innovation provides new avenues to industry.
 I take this opportunity to invite the private sector representatives present here to form part of the consultative committee of the IIT Research Academy and develop a formal IITRA - industry association as from today.
Thank you