ISSUE No. 15 May-June

2014

E-NEWSLETTER

MINISTRY OF TERTIARY EDUCATION,

SCIENCE, RESEARCH & TECHNOLOGY

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

1 Editorial i

2 International Student of the Month 1

3 The commonwealth of learning Regional

Meeting Focal Points 2

4 Visit of QAA for Higher Education of UK 2

5 MoU between UoM and Ministry of

Environment and Sustainable

Development 3

6 Visit to Aadicon Biotechnologies Ltd 3

7 Laying of Foundation Stone – University

Campus Pamplemousses 4

8 ICPAC 2014 5

9 Lindau Nobel Laureates Meeting Award

Ceremony 5

10 Science Outreach Programme by the

Mauritius Research Council 6

11 Activities organized by RGSC 6

12 Courtesy calls and Photo gallery 7

EDITORIAL TEAM

Ms. Shaina Woodun

Mr. Nehrroy Seechurn

Mr. Irfaan Goodasahib

EDITORIAL

The major event of the month of May was the

Commonwealth of Learning Regional Focal Points Meeting

for the African and Mediterranean regions, organised by

the Ministry and the Commonwealth of Learning.

Main events in July were the laying of foundation stone at

the University Campus of Pamplemousses by the Prime

Minister, Dr. the Hon. Navinchandra Ramgoolam GCSK,

FRCP.

The University of Mauritius and the Ministry of

Environment and Sustainable Development signed a

Memorandum of Understanding with a view to promote

coastal engineering and climate change studies. UoM also

organised ICPAC 2014, a conference on Crystallography in

Chemistry.

The Rajiv Gandhi Science Centre continued its science

outreach programmes

Who is the ‘International Student of the month’? Find out

more in this edition!

Editorial Team

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INTERNATIONAL STUDENT OF THE MONTH

Name: Moses Ogutu

Zodiac Sign: Aquarius

Country of origin: Kenya

Studies Enrolled: Bsc Political Science

Moses Ogutu

A. How did you come to know about

Mauritius? Through the ‘New African magazine’

discussing about the Mauritian economy.

B. Why did you choose Mauritius when you

had the choice of studying in your own

country and enjoy the comfort of living with

your parents and seeing your friends? It was

an opportunity to experience the outside world,

live in a foreign environment and know a new

culture.

C. Why Mauritius in particular? I obtained a

scholarship from the ‘Mauritian African

Scholarship scheme 2013’.

D. What were your impressions of the

procedures for application of student visa

and residence permit? I had no problems; the

application was easy and the response from the

university was quite fast.

E. Any particular problems you are facing

while studying in Mauritius? Until now I have

not faced any major difficulty, but on some

occasions there is the problem of language

barrier.

F. How do you find Mauritians to be? In

general, Mauritians are quite cool and welcoming

but I feel they live life at a slow pace.

G. What do you like about Mauritius?

Well, Mauritius is a very safe country with no

political instability. There is also good public

infrastructure and an efficient transport system.

I have to mention that there are many beautiful

ladies. (laughs)

H. What is your favorite local food? I have

eaten so many briani since I have come and I love

it.

I. How is student life? I do not face any

problem as such, it’s quite nice. However there is

no late night parties because public transport

stops running early.

J. Last question: your motto? Start now so

that you can have success one day ahead.

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Commonwealth of Learning Regional

Meeting Focal Points.

The Commonwealth of learning (COL) held its

Regional Focal Points Meeting for Africa and the

Mediterranean at the Hennessy Park Hotel in

Ebene on the 21st May 2014 to the 23rd May 2014.

The event organised by the Ministry of Tertiary

Education, Science, Research and Technology

and the COL Representatives from 20

Commonwealth Member States in Africa and the

Mediterranean attended the meeting.

The opening ceremony was held in the presence

of the Minister of Tertiary Education, Science,

Research and Technology, Dr the Hon. Rajeshwar

Jeetah and Dr the Hon. Vasant Bunwaree,

Minister of Education and Human Resources and

Prof Asha Kanwar, President and Chief Executive

Officer of COL.

The seminar focused on the following:-

Sharing of information about the status

of Open and Distance learning (ODL) in

each participating country

Providing a mid-term report of what COL

has done in each country

Identify the education and training

priorities that COL can support in its

forthcoming 2015-2018 plan.

Visit of QAA for Higher Education of UK

Delegation

Dr Stephen Jackson and Dr Irene Ainsworth from

the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) for Higher

Education of the United Kingdom visited

Mauritius on 21 May. The purpose of the visit was

to undertake an initial scoping of the tertiary

sector and we shall produce proposals which

shall be submitted to the concerned authorities.

The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher

Education is responsible to safeguard quality and

standards in UK universities and colleges, so that

students have the best possible learning

experience.

Dr Jackson is responsible for the management

and delivery of review activity, which includes

universities and other higher education

providers, the review of higher education in

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further education colleges and the review of

private higher education colleges.

Memorandum of Understanding between

University of Mauritius & the Ministry of

Environment and Sustainable Development.

A memorandum of understanding was signed

between the University of Mauritius and the

Ministry of Environment and Sustainable

Development on the 22ndof May 2014 in the

presence of the Honourable Minister of Tertiary

Education, Science, Research and Technology;

Dr. the Hon. Rajeshwar Jeetah.

The memorandum was signed under the Kyoto

Protocol whereby the University of Mauritius will

dispense short courses in coastal engineering

aiming towards adaptation to climate change in

coastal zones.

On this occasion, Dr. Rajesh Jeetah and Minister

Deva Virasawmy launched two books entitled

‘Training Manual on Coastal and Marine

Environment for Engineers’ and ‘Training Manual

on Coastal Protection Works’.

Visit to Aadicon Biotechnologies Ltd at Belle

Rive.

The Honourable Minister, Dr. Rajesh Jeetah

visited Aadicon Biotechnologies Ltd on 20th May

2014.

The firm produces biotechnological products and

provides consultancy in organic farming and agro

biotechnology. Dr Jeetah was impressed with the

high quality biotech products and services

delivered by the company.

4

JUNE 2014

Laying of Foundation Stone - University

Campus Pamplemousses

The laying of the foundation stone of the

University Campus at Pamplemousses was held

on 11 June 2014 in the presence of the Prime

Minister, Dr. the Honourable Navinchandra

Ramgoolam, GCSK, FRCP.

In line with the strategy of the Government to

transform Mauritius into a knowledge-based

economy, the Government is investing in the

construction of three university campuses,

including that of Pamplemousses.

In his speech, the Prime Minister, Dr. the Hon.

Navinchandra Ramgoolam expressed his desire

to give a new impetus to rural regions, not only

in terms of infrastructure but also in research and

development, in a bid to decentralize higher

education.

Dr the Hon. Rajeshwar Jeetah, Minister of

Tertiary Education, Science, Research and

Technology stressed the Ministry’s vision to open

access to local as well as international students,

and make Mauritius a regional hub for higher

education.

The 50-acre plot of land will house a brand new,

7-storey building and a planetarium built with the

collaboration of the Government of India.

5

International Conference on Pure and

Applied Chemistry (ICPAC) 2014

The International Conference on Pure and

Applied Chemistry, organized by the University of

Mauritius, was held from 23 to 27 June 2014. The

theme “Crystallising Ideas: The Role of

Chemistry” bears testimony to the declaration of

Year 2014 as being the International Year of

Crystallography.

In his speech, Dr the Hon. Rajeshwar Jeetah

advocated the prominence of chemistry in daily

life as well as its importance to the global

economy. With a view to promote research in

chemistry, especially in pioneering fields such as

nanomaterials and drug development, he

announced that the setting up a Centre for

Nanotechnology is a project in the pipeline.

Lindau Nobel Laureates Meeting – Award

Ceremony

Dr Arnaud Dominique L’Omelette and Mr Keshav

Beeharry have been selected though

international competition by Lindau Nobel

Laureates Council to participate in the 5th Lindau

Meeting on Economic Sciences. Bpth are

students of the University of Mauritius.

The Meeting aims at providing an open exchange

of economic expertise and inspiring collaboration

among economists from all over the world.

The Lindau Nobel Laureates meeting, which

dates back to 1951, aims at bringing together

young scientists from all over the world to meet

and interact with Nobel Laureates. The meetings

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are inspired by the guiding principles “Educate,

Inspire, Connect”.

Science Outreach Programme by the

Mauritius Research Council

The Science Outreach programme was held

on 18 June at the DAV College. Research and

Science Outreach is an extra-curricular

activity being implemented in secondary

schools by the Mauritius Research Council to

sensitize students of the concept of research

and to motivate them to undertake research.

Activities organised by the Rajiv Gandhi

Science Center (RGSC)

1. Launching of Junior Mobile Science at Sir

Veerasamy Ringadoo Government School

on 15th May 2014.

2. Prize Giving Ceremony- Science quest

2014 on 29th May

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3. National Science week at Curepipe on

8th May

4. National Science Week at Vacoas – 12 June

2014

5. Young Scientist in Action – 19 June 2014

Courtesy Calls and Photo Gallery

University of Technology, Mauritius

Graduation Ceremony – 23 June

8

Courtesy Call – Mr. Alan Jardine,

Professor of Renal Medicine, University

of Glasgow

2nd Annual Law Ball at the Middlesex

University, Mauritius Branch Campus

Signature d’une convention entre

l’Université des Mascareignes et

l’Ambassade de France

Opening Ceremony of Fashion and

Design Institute Exhibition, “In

Perspective”

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Meeting with Prof. Asha Kanwar,

President and CEO of the

Commonwealth of Learning

Meeting with Dr. Karen Pettit, Director of

Middlesex University, Mauritius

AEA Graduation Ceremony on 5th May

Workshop on Capacity Building in

Research on 2nd May

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