Patrick Hilbert
10 June 2008
Port Louis — The two local universities are seeing their dreams of expansion coming to life with the budget proposals for a new campus and loans for all prospective students to have access to tertiary studies in the context of the knowledge hub. As from August 2008, students admitted to a local tertiary institution can obtain a State-guaranteed loan under certain conditions.
Small Mauritius eagerly wants to play in the Premier League of big nations. Its ambition to become a knowledge nation seems on the way to realise itself with the measures proposed in the budget. The first and major one concerns the next academic year starting in August. The University of Mauritius (UoM) and the University of Technology (Mauritius) (UTM) have been asked to increase significantly their intake "so that all students who qualify for university studies can be admitted".
This a major challenge for these institutions. After having had to expand quickly over the last few years, they don't have a lot of space to accommodate more students. "We have asked the government to help us set up a new campus for almost five years now, and we're still waiting", explains a member of the UTM board. Constraints of infrastructure, inadequate funding and scarcity of qualified staff are expected to be addressed.
The budget proposals cater for the infrastructure aspect. The State Land Development Co. Ltd (SLDC), which owns land in Côte-d'Or, has been asked to build a brand new campus, to be leased to the UTM and the UoM. The funding will come from the Human Resource Development, Knowledge and Arts Fund, for which the sum of Rs 1 billion has been earmarked in the budget.
"It seems quite a good solution. Even though we already have land plots in Ebene Cybercity, we could not find the funds to build new infrastructures. The new formula proposed by minister Sithanen seems to be the right one", comments a management member of the UoM. "The next thing is how much time this construction will take."
Supporting the development of local tertiary education is a major issue addressed in the budget. "To sustain the high growth that our reforms have unlocked we must invest massively in our people and our public infrastructure. It is critical that Mauritius shores up its capacity in Tertiary education, Science, Technology and Innovation and in human resources generally", said the minister of Finance in his speech.
"To ensure nobody is left behind, this new structure will disburse money to set up schemes to finance students and grant scholarships."
Despite efforts made over the years, only about 26% of primary school children make it to tertiary level. The Gross Enrolment Ratio at tertiary level, though on the rise, stands at 36%. As at December 2006, the total number of students (part-time and full-time) enrolled on tertiary-level programmes had reached 33,230 compared to 28,864 in December 2005, representing an increase of 15.1%.
The majority of students (75%) were enrolled in tertiary education locally in both public-funded institutions (47%) and private institutions(28%).The remaining 25% of students were pursuing studies in tertiary education overseas.
"This is low by international standards and out of phase with our ambition to be a globally competitive nation. And, it is also not fair that so many of our children do not make it all the way to HSC and post-secondary education." By 2015, the minister expects the enrolment ratio to double. To achieve this, the new fund will cater for the important hurdle to access to tertiary education - affordability. To ensure that nobody is left behind, the new structure will set up of schemes to finance students and grant scholarships.
A State-guaranteed student loan of up to Rs 150 000 per year will soon be launched to allow commercial banks to give loans to all students having been offered a seat in a local institution recognized by the Tertiary Education Commission. This guaranteed loan targets students whose families cannot afford to secure such a loan. The repayment would start only after the student has secured a job.
Finally, to promote ongoing learning for working people, courses after normal hours and e-learning will play a more prominent role. This will give greater flexibility to those who are already employed and/or have families to look after.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 L'Express. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
