SEMINAR ON: “PROFILE & MOTIVATION OF WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS IN MAURITIUS”

 

 

 

 

 

I proceeded to the opening of a seminar on “Profile & motivation of women entrepreneurs in Mauritius”  at the seat of the Mauritius Research Council. The Government has set up numerous support schemes thorough SMEDA, DBM and other institutions to support entrepreneurship. It is also a fact that women may sometimes face discrimination and it becomes harder for them to start a business. The  Government has set up an Equal Opportunities Commission to address all forms of discrimination and to safeguard the interest of all citizens who feel aggrieved. Women entrepreneurs play an important role in the economy, both in their ability to create jobs for themselves and to create jobs for others. Self-employment represents an important job alternative for many women and perhaps especially for women in developing economies.   Women entrepreneurship must be examined both at the individual level and at the firm level (the performance of women owned and managed firms) in order to identify the challenges facing them and to devise mechanisms to support them.

‘THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON HIGHER EDUCATION & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT’

 

 

 

I proceeded to the opening of the ‘International Conference on Higher Education & Economic Development. Last week, we hosted a Post-Secondary and Higher Education leaders’ Forum in the context of the 18^th Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers which brought together Vice Chancellors, higher education experts and policy makers. Now, another group of experts, academics and practitioners are gathered here in Mauritius to reflect and share experiences on higher education and economic development. The holding of these meetings show how higher education is gaining importance and the need to develop concerted actions to address the challenges facing this sector. While we aspire to see our higher education reaching new heights and emerging as a full-fledged pillar of the Mauritian economy in the years to come, with the new realities facing higher education we also foresee major obstacles and challenges ahead.  This International Conference, we hope, will shed light on many of the issues we are likely to confront in the future. The participants hopefully will come up with new findings and recommendations that will further add to the existing knowledge and literature.

‘CLOSING CEREMONY 18TH CONFERENCE OF COMMONWEALTH MINISTERS OF EDUCATION’

 

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.