The document discusses the higher education system in Mauritius. It provides details on the public and private tertiary education institutions in the country. There are 10 public institutions including the University of Mauritius and the University of Technology, Mauritius. Around 50 private institutions have also emerged in recent years. The regulatory framework involves bodies like the Tertiary Education Commission, Mauritius Qualifications Authority, and Mauritius Standards Bureau. While the frameworks are well-defined, there could be overlaps between the different accrediting bodies that require further clarification.

1. The Higher Education system in
Mauritius
Leckraj NAGOWAH
Lecturer, Software and Information Systems,
Faculty of Information, Communication and Digital Technologies
University of Mauritius

2. Background of the Mauritian Education System
 The Nine Year Continuous Basic Education
 Objectives of the Nine Year Basic Education
 Equip all students with knowledge, foundational skills and attitudes leading to an empowered
2030 citizenry
 Inculcate in all students a sense of moral responsibility, a set of values and a strong identity for
the country
 Promote the holistic development of all students
 Provide equitable Learning for All opportunities to attain high levels of achievement
 Achieve a smooth transition to and completion of secondary education
 Give greater recognition to the value of TVET in building human capital and for sustainable
development
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3. The Education Structure3

4. The Education Structure4

5. The Higher Education Landscape in Mauritius
 Consists of both public and private providers.
 Public Institutions (Public-Funded TEIs): 10
 Registered Private Institutions: 51
47- non awarding bodies
4 - awarding bodies
Amity institute of Higher Education
Business Mauritius
Charles Telfair Institute
Rushmore Limited
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6. Public Institutions (1)
1. University of Mauritius - UOM
 Oldest university on the island.
 Set up as a developmental university in 1965 to assist in the development of Mauritius, it
has nearly half a decade years of expertise in providing students with tertiary education
of high level. The University now counts a population of around 12000 students.
2. The University of Technology, Mauritius - UTM
 Set up by an Act of Parliament in Year 2000 to providing multi-level tertiary education in
diverse disciplines to meet the needs and challenges of Mauritius.
 Has developed a number of areas of excellence which range from Sustainable
Development Sciences, Health Sciences, Banking and International Finance to
Engineering & Information Technology and Tourism and Hospitality Management.
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7. Public Institutions (2)
3. The Mauritius Institute of Education - MIE
 Set up in 1973 to engage in Teacher Education, Curriculum Development and Research.
 It provides in-service and pre-service training for Educators, Managerial and Inspectorate
cadres for pre-primary, primary and secondary education.
4. The Mahatma Gandhi Institute - MGI
 Set up by an Act of Parliament which was passed on 23 December 1970 as a joint initiative of
the Governments of India and Mauritius. The foundation stone was laid on 3rd June 1970 and
was inaugurated on 9 October 1976 by Shrimati Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of
India.
 5 tertiary schools which include School of Indian Studies, School of Performing Arts, School of
Fine Arts, School of Mauritian and Area Studies and the School of Indological Studies.
 It offers diploma, degree and postgraduate courses in Indian Studies, Performing Arts, Fine
Arts, Indological Studies and Mauritian and Area Studies.
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8. Public Institutions (3)
5. The Rabindranath Tagore Institute - RTI
 Set up, as a corporate body in 2002 as a centre of studies of Indian Culture and Traditions and to promote education
and culture generally.
 The Institute offers Tertiary level programmes in Film Production, Arts & Crafts and Dramatic Arts. Courses in the
following fields are also being run: Yoga, Music (Vocal, Tabla, Harmonium, Guitar) Arts & Crafts.
6. Open University of Mauritius – OU
 Established in 2012 as a Public University with full awarding powers, fostering open and distance learning to enable
access to both local and international students.
 From Foundation courses and courses in Employability Skills, OU delivers a wide gamut of Undergraduate and
Postgraduate programmes, including PhD and DBA.
7. Université des Mascareignes - UdM
 Set up in 2012, this brand new public university offers an innovative approach to higher education and learning.
 3 faculties: Faculty of Business and Management, Faculty of Sustainable Development and Engineering, Faculty of
Information and Communication Technology
 UdM collaborates with the French university, Université de Limoges, and offers degree courses based on the European
and International LMD (Licence, Maitrise, Doctorat) model.
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9. Public Institutions (4)
8. The Mauritius Institute of Training and Development - MITD
 Set up in 2009 by taking over the activities of the Industrial and Vocational Training Board and part of
the Technical School Management Trust Fund.
 Most of the programmes are of Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) nature and vary
from basic to diploma levels and are dispensed to a broad spectrum of audiences.
9. Mauritius Institute of Health - MIH
 Established in 1989, operating as the training and research arm of the Ministry of Health and Quality
of Life, and also acts as the Awarding Body for courses in Health and Social Studies delivered by other
registered Training Institutions.
10. The Fashion and Design Institute - FDI
 Launched in 2009 with the aim to promote excellence in the field of design education. It was set up
by Government to rationalize resources in this sector and foster a uniform and a focused
development of the fashion industry.
 Through a complete course, where theory is taught alongside practice, students learn that creativity is
a gift to be nurtured, nourished and stimulated continuously, with passion and dedication.
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10. Private Providers
 About 50 private institutions have joined the tertiary education sector in the past few years.
 Offer all types of programmes in an extensive number of disciplines such as:
 Management,
 Accountancy,
 Medicine,
 Dentistry and Information Technology.
 Most of these private institutions are local counterparts of overseas institutions and offer programmes
ranging from sub-degree to postgraduate ones through a mixed-mode system, encompassing both
distance learning and face-to face tutorials.
 The examinations are, in general, conducted by the Mauritius Examinations Syndicate (MES), apart from a
few which are organised and invigilated by overseas institutions themselves in collaboration with the local
partner.
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11. Enrolment in Private Post Secondary Educational
Institutions, December 2015
 10,967 students were enrolled in private institutions in 2015; the ones attracting
the highest number of students are:
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Private Institution Male Female Total
London College of Accountancy 1,500 1,985 3,485
Charles Telfair Company Ltd 647 717 1,364
BSP School of Accountancy and Management Ltd 313 613 926
Middlesex University (Mauritius Branch Campus) 331 368 699
SSR Medical College 267 306 573
Mauritius Management Association 273 284 557

12. Regulatory Framework (1)
 The Ministry of Education and Human Resources, Tertiary Education and
Scientific Research supervises and monitors all action related to the support to be
provided to education.
 The Mauritius Qualification Authority is the regulator of the technical and
vocational education and training sector.
 The Tertiary Education Commission has as objects to promote, plan, develop and
coordinate post-secondary education in Mauritius and to implement an
overarching regulatory framework to achieve high international quality.
 It also has the responsibility to allocate government funds to the Tertiary Education
Institutions under its purview and to ensure accountability and optimum use of
resources.
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13. Regulatory Framework (21)
 TEC Regulatory Framework is based on:
1. Providing general guidelines on Tertiary Education Institutions in Mauritius
such as to set up new institutions, awarding powers, use of the “University”
term
2. Registration and accreditation of Programmes/Institutions
3. Carrying out Quality Assurance and Academic Audits involving guidelines for
Establishment of Quality Assurance Systems, guidelines for Self-Assessment of
Academic Audit and the criteria for Academic Audit
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14. Qualifications Framework
 The Mauritius Qualifications Authority (MQA) is the body responsible
for developing, implementing and maintaining the National Qualifications
Framework
 It also aims to ensure that institutions are complying with existing
provisions regarding the registration and accreditation of training
institutions. In this respect, its responsibility appears to tally with that of
the TEC
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15. Quality Framework (1)
 At the TEC, the Division of Quality Assurance and Accreditation has been entrusted
the responsibility to establish appropriate quality assurance processes sector-wide.
 A Framework for Quality Assurance in Tertiary Education in Mauritius has been
developed, which puts into perspective the quality assurance agenda for the sector.
 In order to implement the agenda, the Commission has set out to:
1. assist the institutions in putting in place their specific quality assurance systems;
2. prepare the institutions to undertake their self-assessment;
3. undertake external quality audit of the institutions; and
4. carry out quality assessment exercises (or accreditation).
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16. Quality Framework (2)
 The Mauritius Standards Bureau
 A corporate body which has been set up under the Mauritius Standards Bureau
Act 1993.
 The Bureau is responsible for standardization, quality assurance, testing and
metrology. MSB operates a certification marking scheme for products and a
national management system certification scheme (ISO 9001, ISO 14001,
ISO/IEC 27001, ISO 22000, HACCP).
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17. Observations (1)
 Growing number of Tertiary Education Institutions in Mauritius
 Existing frameworks supporting the sector in Mauritius appear to be fairly
well-defined.
 3 institutions perform accreditation in Mauritius:
 Tertiary Education Commission
 Mauritius Qualifications Authority
 Mauritius Standard Bureau
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18. Observations (2)
 There might be overlaps between the work of these three institutions
 Proper guidelines when to choose which institution is missing or not clear
 However, the sector is well regulated with a few TEIs shutting down
recently
 Sector has the blessing of the Government with the creation of two new
faculties at the University of Mauritius, the leading tertiary education
provider in the country, namely the:
 Faculty of Ocean Studies
 Faculty of Information, Communication and Digital Technologies
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19. Conclusions
 The Mauritian tertiary sector is very competitive with a growing number of private
institutions.
 Although there is a severe competition between the different TEIs, they seem to
have identified their target population which is based on age, fees, full-time or
part-time and field of study.
 Proper guidelines on when to choose which body is necessary and currently
missing
 With the creation of two new faculties namely the Faculty of Ocean Studies and the
Faculty of Information, Communication and Digital Technologies at the University
of Mauritius, the Government is increasing its efforts to position Mauritius as the
knowledge hub in this part of the world.
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20. References
 Nine Year Schooling Presentation, Ministry of Education and
Human Resources, Tertiary Education and Scientific Research,
http://ministry-
education.govmu.org/English/educationsector/nys/Documents/Pres
entation_PRESS_NN_19August2015pdf.pdf
 Tertiary Education Commission Mauritius, http://www.tec.mu
 Mauritius Qualifications Authority, http://mqa.mu
 The Mauritius Standard Bureau, http://msb.intnet.mu/
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