PRESENTATION
OF HON MINISTER RAJESH JEETAH AT THE NATIONAL EMPLOYMENT POLICY WORKSHOP - WEDNESDAY
29 OCTOBER 2014
The Minister of Tertiary Education,
Science, Research and Technology laid
emphasis on the global trend of expansion and internationalization of Higher
Education which is directly linked to economic growth and human
development.
The Minister gave a lucid picture of how
Mauritius is coping with the rapid internationalization of higher education and
at the same time addressing the labour market needs in the country.
The aim, said the Minister, is to create
and maintain a conducive environment to make Mauritius a Centre of Knowledge of
high quality, strongly anchored in science, technology and innovation while
ensuring equitable access to Tertiary Education to every citizen.
The Hon Minister described the five
strategic goals of his Ministry which are:
· To
widen access and ensure equity
· To
Improve Quality & Relevance
· To
Internationalize Tertiary Education
· To
enhance Research and innovate
·
To strengthen Governance and Financial
Sustainability
The Minister spoke of the four public
universities of the country, namely:
·
The Open University of Mauritius offering
distance learning programmes with flexible hours to accommodate working people
· The
Université des Mascareignes offering tertiary education programmes based on the
French system of Licence-Maitrise- Doctorat and a dual degree with the
Universite de Limoges - a European degree.
· New
campuses at Curepipe and Bel Air
·
Three new campuses in the process of being
constructed.
·
An IIT Research Academy, launched in
collaboration with the IIT Delhi. This
is the first time that an IIT is being set up outside India. This institution is expected to become the
most prestigious engineering and science institution in this region.
The Minister also spoke of the partnership
with well-established Higher Education institutions. He named more than 31 British awarding
bodies, about 13 French awarding bodies and 6 Australian institutions present
in Mauritius, all offering education of the same standards as those of their
respective country.
He said that the employability of graduates
depends on several factors, namely
· the
quality of education and
· recognition
of qualifications through partnership with reputed institutions
The
Minister pointed out that even if it is not possible to reach a perfect
equation between graduate studies and the employment market, there are many
ways of reducing the gaps and making our young people more employable. He said
some measures have been taken in this
direction by his Ministry among which:
- The setting up of mandatory consultative committees in all public tertiary institutions
- Assises de L`Enseignement Superieur to ensure an interaction between all stakeholders
- Advisory Committees at each faculty and school level
- Youth Employment Scheme, Work placements and Internships
- Work-Based learning by UoM
- Career fairs at local TEI’s
- Priority Field of Studies
- Diversification of fields of studies
· Entrepreneurship
courses at UoM and Open University
To conclude, the Minister said that, as
there is a direct correlation between Higher Education and the labour market,
it is necessary to have the contribution of one and all to move the country
from a middle income to a high income country.
