The document summarizes the higher education landscape in Mauritius. It outlines that Mauritius has both public and private tertiary education institutions and the government aims to transform the country into a regional knowledge hub. The public tertiary education system includes four main universities while the largest private institutions are Charles Telfair Institute, Medine Education Village, and Middlesex University. The Tertiary Education Commission regulates institutions and the National Qualifications Framework establishes educational standards and qualifications levels. Overall, the document states that Mauritius has the necessary infrastructure to become a center for higher education in the region.

1. Higher Education Landscape
in Mauritius
Mrs Soulakshmee D. Nagowah
Department of Software and Information Systems
Faculty of Information, Communication and Digital Technologies
University of Mauritius

2. Higher Education Landscape
 Mauritius is undergoing tremendous changes in the education sector.
 Factors are contributing to the changes are
 Advancement in new technologies
 Rapid pace of globalization
 Increasing mobility of students and scholars
 Movement of academic programs and institutions across borders. In the government
programme 2015 – 2019, the government of Mauritius
 Aim of government: Transform Mauritius into a regional knowledge hub
 To serve the region and as a multi-disciplinary centre for higher learning and excellence

3. Background
 In Mauritius, tertiary education revolves around
 50 private-funded institutions
 10 institutions within the public sector
 The University of Mauritius (UoM)
 The University of Technology Mauritius (UTM)
 The Mauritius Institute of Education (MIE)
 The Mahatma Gandhi Institute (MGI)
 The Rabindranath Tagore Institute (RTI)
 The Fashion Design Institute (FDI)
 The Open University Mauritius (OUM)
 L'Université des Mascareignes
 The Mauritius Institute of Training and Development
 The Mauritius Institute of Health

4. Public Providers
 Among the ten public institutions there are four universities - the University of Mauritius
(UOM), the University of Technology Mauritius (UTM), the Open University of Mauritius
(OUM) and the Université des Mascareignes (UdM).
 UOM established as a university in 1965,
 Largest student population among the public universities
 Oldest and most established university in the country and its degrees have international recognition, as
students with an undergraduate degree from UOM easily obtain admission for postgraduate studies in
renowned universities overseas.
 The UTM was created in year 2000
 Aim: Having a second university in Mauritius to focus towards development of oriented sectors
 The OUM was set up in July 2012 by government
 Aim: It promotes access to tertiary education through a mixed mode of open and distance
learning and face-to-face interaction
 Thus providing opportunities for non-traditional learners as well as enabling lifelong learning
for adults wishing to pursue further studies.
 The UdM was established in May 2012
 Greater need to strengthen existing universities.
 The Institut Supérieur de Technologie and the Swami Dayanand Institute of Management were
integrated into the UdM.

5. Private Providers
 Among the 50 private-funded institutions in Mauritius, Charles Telfair Institute [7], Medine
Education Village and Middlesex University are the most well-known institutions attracting more
students.
 Charles Telfair Institute has over 1800 students currently enrolled and enjoys an Alumni that is close
to 9000 strong.
 It has a growing international student base with students from afar as South Africa, Botswana and
Kenya.
 There is close collaboration with industry partners who provide a range of industry projects and
internships opportunities to CTI students.
 Medine Education Village hosts a palette of highly-ranked tertiary institutions, opened to both local
and international students.
 The concept used by Medine Education Village is a unique one integrating education, research and
innovation via an International Campus for Sustainable and Innovative Africa (ICSIA)
 ICSIA is designed to provide world-class education to Mauritian and African students through
partnerships with elite institutions in view of building up African expertise.
 Middlesex University Mauritius Branch Campus is an integral part of Middlesex University that
offers both Undergraduate and Postgraduate degrees.
 Same rigorous quality assurance procedures that have earned Middlesex University in London the
highest possible endorsement from UK's Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education is applied in
Mauritius.
 The degree programmes offered at Middlesex University Mauritius Branch Campus are recognised
the world over since they are validated and monitored to exactly the same standards as those offered
at Middlesex's London campus.
 These stringent standards apply to both Undergraduate and Postgraduate degrees.

6. Regulatory Framework (1)
 The Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) is the main quality assurance agency in
Mauritius.
 It has set up to oversee the tertiary education institutions in Mauritius.
 The Ministry of Education and Human Resources in cooperation with TEC has
prepared a Regulatory Framework for post-secondary education.
 It will allow the tertiary education sector in Mauritius to attain world-class status, and be
able to attract international students, brand-name institutions of higher learning and a
highly qualified teaching staff.
 This framework will be used by the Board of Investment for attracting Foreign
Direct Investments (FDIs) in the Tertiary Education Sector.

7. Regulatory Framework (2)
Before submitting their application for the setting up of tertiary institutions in Mauritius, promoters are
therefore kindly requested to read and comply strictly to the following:
1. The institution wishing to set up a branch in Mauritius shall either be a recognised accredited
university/deemed university in its home country;
2. The branch campus shall be serviced inter alia by members of academic staff of the parent campus.
Alternatively, all staff appointed shall be on the basis of the same criteria as those of the parent campus;
3. The institution shall ensure that the programme(s) run and the award(s) made at the branch campus are
similar to those offered in its parent campus and have the same recognition status as those of the
parent institution in the home country. If regulations in the home country do not permit this, the
institution will work with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration & International Trade to
obtain recognition for courses taken and/or degrees awarded from the Mauritian campus.
4. The institution shall ensure that the same academic quality and standards as those of the parent campus
are prevailing at the branch campus, and for that purpose set out appropriate mechanisms;
5. Once established, the branch campus shall comply with the regulatory framework for post-secondary
education in Mauritius ;
6. An overseas recognised accredited institution wishing to set up an institution in Mauritius as a separate
entity from the parent institution, shall ensure that strong academic linkage exists between the
institution to be set up and the parent institution, and also compliance with conditions (ii) – (vi) above;

8. Qualifications Framework(1)
 The National Qualifications Framework (NQF) in Mauritius is the framework for
setting educational standards of academic and vocational qualifications as well as
for categorising qualifications by level and stage of education.
 The NQF is established and maintained by the Mauritius Qualifications Authority
(MQA).
 The framework may be mapped to qualification frameworks of other countries.

9. Qualifications Framework(2)
The figure below shows National Qualifications Framework (NQF) in Mauritius.

10. Conclusion
 It can be observed that Mauritius has all the necessary infrastructure and
framework to transform the country into a regional knowledge hub to serve the
region and as a multi-disciplinary centre for higher learning and excellence.

11. References
 [1] Creating African Futures in an Era of Global Transformations: Challenges and Prospects, Ramola
Ramtohul, June 2015
 [2] Tertiary Education Commission, Available at http://www.tec.mu/
 [3] University of Mauritius, Available at http://www.uom.ac.mu
 [4] University of Technology, Available at http://www.utm.ac.mu
 [5] Open University of Mauritius, Available at http://www.oum.ac.mu
 [6] The Université des Mascareignes, Available at http://www.udm.ac.mu
 [7] Charles Telfair Institute, Available at http://www.telfair.ac.mu/
 [8] Medine Education Village, Available at http://www.medine.com/education/
 [9] Middlesex University Mauritius Branch Campus, Available at http://www.middlesex.mu/about-us/why-
study-at-middlesex-mauritius
 [10] Regulatory Framework for post-secondary education, Available at
www.tec.mu/pdf_downloads/reg&guid/National%20Policy%20Framework.pdf
 [11] National Qualification Framework, Available at http://www.mqa.mu/English/Pages/NQF.aspx