‘LES ASSISES DE L’ENSEIGNEMENT SUPERIEUR’




 





The forum ‘LES ASSISES DE L’ENSEIGNEMENT SUPERIEUR’, will focus on higher education and research, in particular on five central themes, namely – internationalisation of tertiary education, quality issues, research and innovation, labour market needs and employability and management of higher education institutions. I would like to welcome the participants who are participating in this forum  and who are prepared to share their views and observations with us and to discuss about the future of higher education in Mauritius.  I am pleased that participants from the public and private sector, students, academics, NGO’s are present for this important consultation.   I wish them all a fruitful deliberation.

‘Courtesy Call’





His Excellency Enrique Antonio Prieto Lopez, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Cuba paid a courtesy call upon me, to bid farewell as Ambassador of the Republic of Cuba to the Republic of Mauritius.

‘Wheat Harvest Ceremony at Petit Merlot’

 
 


 

It is an honour and privilege to participate in the wheat harvest ceremony, wheat that  been produced on an experimental basis for the first time at Petit Merlot. I would like to express my thanks to the Dairy Farm Cooperative Society Ltd of Petit Merlot for having kindly accepted to allocate some 3 acres of land for the purpose. Wheat (Triticumaestivum) is among the three top-most produced cereal worldwide, together with maize and rice. In 2012 global annual production of wheat amounted to about 650-700 million tons. Mauritius is highly dependent on food imports and is currently importing 80% of its food requirements; wheat imports amount to around 170000 tonnes annually. STC supplies the local market with about 100 000 tonnes of flour yearly. At 225 grams per capita, Wheat Flour remains the main staple food other than rice. Many thanks to Universal Development Corporation, especially Mr Philippe Levieux for having kindly accepted to share their storage facilities for the seeds and their support.To all those who have kindly  provided  consumables to be used in the experiment : Pherrich Ltd for supply of compost and Matikola Ltd for sharing consumables. Thanking Mr Benoit Francisque from DCF Roots Ltd who is already making cereals and other products from manioc and who kindly accepted to process the wheat grains from last year into flour and Bread. I hope that this fruitful collaboration among all these stakeholders continues and that next year we will be able to see some of the potential applications.

Launching of Book ’Universal Bilingual Functional Literacy (UBFL) for the Maritime Republic of Mauritius’


 
 










  I congratulate Dev Virahsawmy on his ground-breaking book ’Universal Bilingual Functional Literacy (UBFL) for the Maritime Republic of Mauritius’ which has a direct connection with the author’s long history in the area of pedagogy and education. I thank him for giving me the opportunity to experience a significant pedagogical deduction through his journey into bilingual functional literacy.