ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to pay special thanks to all those whose valuable support, assistance and motivation
helped me to sustain this study either directly or indirectly.
I would express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor and lecturer, Mr. Virayen Teeroovengadum,
for all the assistances, critics and advices he provided me during the research.
I am also thankful to my lecturer of International Business, Mr. Vikramsing Gungah, who helped
me to choose a proper title and guided me on how to begin my research.
I wish to express my appreciation and special thanks to Yajish Budia for his constant support and
help throughout the preparation of this study.
A special word goes to my aunty, Mrs. Priya Lobind who was always ready to help me.
Lastly, I owe thanks to my parents and other family members who have always been supporting
me during my happy and difficult moments and encouraging me to work hard and succeed.

ABSTRACT
This paper explores the interconnection between globalization and higher education in Mauritius.
It provides an understanding of how higher education helps the country to compete in the global
village. For the purpose of this study, both primary and secondary data have been used. A
qualitative research has been carried out with the use of questionnaires which has been answered
by university students.

1. INTRODUCTION
Education is viewed as a fundamental right as it contributes to improve the livelihood of people,
and the nation in general. Since 2005, it has been proposed to develop Mauritius into a knowledge
hub and a centre of higher learning, in order to meet the needs of an increasingly competitive,
knowledge-based and globalised economy, which have been successful to some extent.
The higher education landscape worldwide is being influenced by the process of globalization.
Therefore, Mauritius cannot remain isolated from the globalization process and has to take
advantage of it and adapt itself as an island state to its challenges. Hence, this study analyses the
impacts of globalization on higher education in the Mauritian context and the elements needed to
position Mauritius as a knowledge hub mainly from an academic perspective.

2. RESEARCH PROBLEM
Due to the fast change in the global market and increased global competition, educating the nation
has become of paramount importance.
Transforming Mauritius into an intelligent nation state in the vanguard of global progress and
innovation is one of the priorities of the Mauritian government. Creative learning, which is the
acquisition of skills and competencies, becomes a paramount necessity since education is one of
the cardinal drivers of economic growth. The reasons for this are various, but two of the most
significant are, firstly education builds human capital and enables workers to be more productive,
and secondly, it increases a country's capacity to innovate - an indispensable pre-requisite for
growth and competitiveness in today's global knowledge economy.
Consequently, the government has decided to increase access to higher education, especially at the
University of Mauritius and laid emphasis on the fact that every Mauritian family should be able to
boast at least one graduates by 2015 (LExpress, 2007). It further proposes to increase the tertiary
enrolment rate for Mauritian and foreign students.
However, attaining this objective becomes challenging when during the past few years there have
been several issues concerning the employment of the fresh graduates. Will the fresh graduates
find a job that matches their graduate ambitions? And if not, what are the reasons behind and what
can be done to ameliorate this situation? Is this an adverse impact of globalization?
Mauritius has reached to a critical phase of development where it is witnessing a resurgence of
unemployment; worsen by the current globally competitive scenarios and economic liberalization
policies.
Therefore, a research has been carried out in order to shed more light on this issue and how
globalization has a direct impact on the higher education in Mauritius and also a very interesting
article has been found during the research process where different students from the University of
Mauritius have given statements about not finding jobs after university. (The article has been listed
reference section).

3. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
This research aims to report the concept of how Higher Education in Mauritius is being affected by
globalization and whether the country is ready to develop into a knowledge hub and a centre for
higher learning. However, the work will find out on the following;

Development of higher education in Mauritius due to globalization

Impact of globalization on higher education
Higher Education as a driver for the economy (Knowledge- based Economy)

It also presents some figures and statistics concerning the related topic.

4. SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY
The significance of this research is to review the literature of interlink between Higher education
and globalization, the development of higher education in Mauritius and its importance for the
country to compete in the global economy and to make Mauritius have a knowledge economy. It
also explores on the negative and positive aspects of the impact of globalization on the Higher
Education in Mauritius.
It shows how globalization is reshaping the higher education sector of Mauritius and how the little
country is benefitting from this development. Various issues such as building a strong university
sector, investing in research and development, creating a highly skilled environment for
transferring knowledge between the university sector and business, the use of technology,
internalization of tertiary education and regional partnerships is needed for Mauritius to become a
knowledge hub.
Education and training are key drivers of competitiveness. As the global economy has become
more complex, it has become evident that to compete and maintain a presence in the global
markets, it is essential to boost the human capital endowments of the labor force, whose members
must have access to new knowledge, be constantly, trained in new processes and in the operation
of latest technologies. (World Economic Forum On Global Competitiveness Index, 2006).

5. LITERATURE REVIEW
While research and development is a major factor contributing to new knowledge, a wellfunctioning economy requires a strong university sector to transfer the knowledge to students. It is
these types of complementary functions that create a highly- skilled environment for transferring
knowledge between university sector and business. Tertiary education should aim at unleashing the
full potential and creativity of the Mauritian people and to lay the foundation for placing Mauritius
in the rank of developed economies.

5.1 Developments of Higher Education Sector

Mauritius moved across different stages in its development following economic crusade
experienced during in the 1980s and mid 1990s: from a monocrop economy relying mainly on
sugar exports to a broader based multi-pronged oriented economy with an emerging textile
industry and thereafter the tourism sector which gained significant economic impetus.
The tertiary education landscape in Mauritius has witnessed significant transformation since the
country's accession to its independence in 1968 when only one institution, namely the University
of Mauritius (UoM) was in existence. Today, the Sector is quite diversified and encompasses some
65 institutions, public and private and regional, overseas institutions catering for a wide range of
courses and programmes, both in traditional and through the distance education mode.
Within the public sector, besides the UoM, tertiary education revolves around the University of
Technology, Mauritius (UTM), Mahatma Gandhi Institute (MGI), Rabindranath Tagore Institute
(RTI), Open University of Mauritius (OU), Fashion and Design Institute (FDI) as well as the
newly-created Universit des Mascareignes. Three public institutions, namely the Mauritius
Institute of Training and Development (MITD), the Mauritius Institute of Health (MIH) and the
Mauritius Institute of Education (MIE) also run programmes at the tertiary level. In addition, 55
private institutions are registered locally, providing tertiary education in diverse fields, ranging
from Certificate to PhD, with the awarding bodies mostly based overseas (52 out of 58). The
tertiary education landscape in Mauritius also extends beyond the local boundary as a significant
number of Mauritian students go overseas for their higher studies.

Statutory bodies like Tertiary Education Commission (TEC), Industrial and Vocational Training
Board (IVTB), Mauritius College of the Air (MCA), Mauritius Examinations Syndicate (MES) and
Mauritius Qualifications Authority (MQA) play significant role in the Higher Education Sector in
Mauritius.
As at December 2013, the total number of students (part-time and full-time) enrolled on tertiarylevel programmes (including Distance Education) reached 50,579 compared to 49,625 in
December 2012, representing an increase of 1.9%.

The majority of students (82%) were enrolled in tertiary education locally in both public-funded
institutions (47%) and private institutions (35%). The remaining 18% of the students were enrolled
in tertiary education overseas.
Source: Statistics Mauritius
Following the expansion in the financial sector, the information, communication and
technology (ICT) sector is the most recent development strategy since Mauritius is aiming
to position itself as the cyber island or knowledge hub in the African region (Human Resource
Development Council (HRDC), 2009). Information and communication technologies (ICTs)
have greatly accelerated the pace of globalization. They have increased global trade and
productivity, facilitated business and industry expansion, and enhanced education and research

collaboration.

With the spread of ICTs, space and distance have become relative concepts.

Learning processes are increasingly dependent on ICTs because they connect students and
researchers to the global knowledge community. In a globalized world, it is unthinkable that a
higher education institute could become a centre of excellence without a reliable and up-to-date
ICT infrastructure.
Moreover, like in other countries, in Mauritius as well open learning is gaining importance and
Open and Distance learning is one of the most rapidly growing fields of education (UNESCO
2002). More and more students over time are turning towards distance education as distance
learning offers many advantages especially as it offers flexible learning opportunities to learners.
Many educational institutions are promoting distance education via online learning platforms.
They make use of open and distance learning to reach out to students even beyond their national
boundaries.

5.2 Knowledge Based Economy

The term knowledge based economy or learning economy describes those economies in which
the creation, sharing and utilization of knowledge are the main factors for growth, creation of
wealth and employment within the industrial sectors (Thompson, 2002).
Mauritius has achieved remarkable progress in the provision of primary, secondary, vocational and
higher education. The expansion of education has been one of the main factors influencing the
7

economic and social advancement of the country. Government is now working towards building
Mauritius as a knowledge centre by expanding access to quality higher education and
strengthening research, development and innovation.
It is with this objective that the Government of Mauritius is placing high importance on
knowledge-driven growth and innovation for its future development. This policy has prompted the
Government to create a ministry dedicated to tertiary education, science, research and technology
and to define a vision based on widening opportunities to quality higher education not only to meet
the needs of Mauritius but also of the region.
The policy of One Graduate per Family aims at increasing the skills and competence of our
young people, promoting social mobility and improving quality of life. Reputable tertiary
education institutions are being encouraged to operate in Mauritius. Some of them already have
branches in Mauritius or are working in partnership with local institutions, namely ESSEC,
Science Po, Imperial College and University of Geneva.
Special attention is being given to quality of programmes teaching and learning. It is intended to
strengthen quality assurance at all levels of the tertiary education sector, through upgrading of
qualifications of faculty members, peer review of teaching and by increasing research and
publications. A Tertiary Education Bill will be enacted to provide for clear and transparent quality
assurance mechanisms.
The tertiary education sector strategy is placing emphasis on the participation of the private sector
in research and innovation as well as in increasing employability of graduates through effective
linkages with the private sector to obtain key information on labor market needs.
The ultimate objective is to develop the knowledge sector as a new pillar of the economy and
increase its current contribution of 2.7 % of GDP to about 10% by 2025.

5.3 Challenges
The spread of markets and the globalization process have transformed the world of higher
education. It is being faced with some major challenges.

According to Nayyar (2008), market forces, driven by the threat of competition or the lure
of profit have led to the emergence of higher education as business. That is, years ago
students were choosing to pursue a programme according to their interests for that subject but
nowadays due to the issue of not easily getting employments after the university, students prefer to
pursue higher education programmes which they think is employable. Private universities are
being opened which are introducing new programmes for which there is demand in the market
place. The negative aspect is that students are obliged to pursue these courses, irrespective of the
expensive fees- which show that markets have influenced education- it is being considered as a
business.

It proves both dangers and opportunities are closely intertwined. Markets and the

commercialization of universities could lead to the erosion of values as well as morality.

Moreover, globalization leads to cross border higher, that is, countries which cannot satisfy the
demand for higher education facilitate access through student mobility. However concerns about
equity can arise (HRDC Report 2006). If not carefully monitored by governments and educational
institutions, the expansion of cross border education can lead to displacement of domestic students
by international students. Another aspect of this issue is that student mobility if mostly financed by
the students and families, except if they have got scholarships, therefore students from lower
economic background may lag in cross border student mobility.
Another challenge for Mauririus is to find mechanisms to overcome the negative consequences of
competition. The pressure of competition between universities seems to prevent long term
collaboration. Mauritian TEIs operate in a highly competitive environment and knowledge transfer
in a learning economy demands for cooperation and commitment. Therefore, it is required to have
institutional cooperation.

6. METHODOLOGY
Methodology is concerned with both the detailed research methods through which data are
collected and the more general philosophies upon which the collection and analysis of data are
based (Haralambos and Horlborn, 2000).
6.1 Research Approaches
Based on Haralambos and Horlborn (2000) studies, it is possible to identify two broad approaches
to methodology:

For the purpose of this study, more emphasis has been laid on qualitative method.
6.2

Research Design

Research design provides the glue that holds the research project together. This can be defined as
an overall plan describing all the research methods to be used while linking them with specific
research objectives/ questions. Theses include all the techniques and procedures to be used for
collecting data and analyzing data.

10

According to Ghauri and Gronhaug (2005), depending on the nature of the problem the research
could be exploratory, descriptive or explanatory.

For this project the two types of research design used are exploratory and descriptive.
Most of the exploratory research carried out was based on secondary sources of data like books,
journal and articles. According to research carried out by John Scott (1990), secondary data can
only be used if they satisfy the following criteria:

Authenticity
Credibility
Representativeness
Meaningful

Secondly, the two most common types of descriptive research designs are survey and observation.
For this study, survey was used. Surveys can be further divided into two broad categories namely,
questionnaire and interview. Questionnaires are usually paper-and pencil instruments that the
respondent completes, while interviews are completed by the interviewer based on what the
respondent says (Trochim, 2006). Questionnaire was used for this particular study.

6.3 Sample Design

11

All research involves some sort of sampling, some selection of who or what to study. A sample is a
part of a larger population selected to be representative of that population (Haralambos &
Horlborn, 2000).
6.3.1 Sampling Plan
A sampling plan calls for three decisions:

6.3.2 Sample Size

According to Kotler and Armstrong (2004), large samples give more reliable results than small
samples. Here, a sample size of 50 persons has been taken to represent the population. The sample
represents 15 persons from the private institutions, 15 from foreign institutions and 20 from public
institutions who will be interviewed.
6.3.3 Sampling Procedure
The two types of sampling: Probability and Non probability sampling.

12

Therefore, in this research, Stratified random sampling has been used- the sample has been
divided into different strata, namely, public, private and foreign institutions.

6.4 Data Collection Method

Data Collection is a systematic approach to gathering information from a variety of sources to get
a complete and accurate picture of an area of interest. There are two types of data collection
method:

Primary Data
Secondary Data

Both the secondary and primary data has been used in this thesis. Secondary data has been
collected from books, articles, online research and lecture notes. And Primary research was
conducted via use of questionnaires.
A questionnaire is simply a list of questions. Questionnaires need to be carefully developed, tested
and debugged before they are administered (Kotler and Armstrong, 2004). The nature of the
questions for this study is qualitative type. A total of 20 questions, divided into 6 sections, have
been included in the questionnaire. (Attached in the appendix)

13

7. CONCLUSION
Today, massive changes are occurring in the teaching and learning environment at the level of
tertiary education. The emergence of a global market for higher education is imminent. A lot of
attention is being paid to Tertiary Education in Mauritius. The Mauritian tertiary education sector
can become one of the pillars of the economy by attracting 100,000 foreign students by 2020.
Moreover, despite its benefits, globalization does have some implications on the Higher education
in which have to be worked on.

8. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
In this study, not very much literature is available; however, most of the secondary sources were
from books, articles, dissertations, reports and more online sources. Moreover concerning the
questionnaires, all the responses will be kept confidential.

9. RESEARCH PLANNING AND TIME SCALE

The time- scale provides a simple visual representation of the tasks or activities that make up the
research project, each being plotted against the time line. The time scale for this project has been
attached in the appendix.

14

10.

LIST OF REFERENCES

Jean Claude Ah-Teck Karen Starr, (2013),"Principalsperceptions of qualityin Mauritian

schools using the Baldrige framework", Journal of Educational Administration, Vol. 51 Iss
5 pp. 680 704

Jane Knight. "Towards African Higher Education Regionalization and Harmonization:

Functional, Organizational and Political Approaches" InThe Development of Higher
Education in Africa: Prospects and Challenges. Published online: 20 Aug 2014; 347-373.

European Journal of Education, Vol. 19, No. 1, 1984

The Quarterly Review of Distance Education, Volume 6(3), 2005, pp. 185197

Jason E. Lane Kevin Kinser . "Cross-Border Higher Education in Africa: Collaboration and
Competition" InThe Development of Higher Education in Africa: Prospects and
Challenges. Published online: 20 Aug 2014; 99-126.

Kingsley Banya. "Globalization, knowledge economy and the emergence of private

universities in Sub-Saharan Africa" InPower, Voice and the Public Good: Schooling and
Education in Global Societies. Published online: 2008; 231-259.

Education & human resources strategy plan 2008-2020

Transforming Mauritius into a Knowledge hub, Sectoral Committee Report, Nov 2006

Rajen Suntoo (2012), Globalisation and its impact on the Mauritian Society, University of
Mauritius

Damtew Teferra and Heinz Greijn (2010), Higher Education and Globalization Challenges,
Threats and Opportunities for Africa

Towards a Common Future Higher Education and SADC Regional Development:

Regional Country Profiles

Tertiary Education Strategic Plan 2013-2025

Praveen Mohadeb Executive Director: Sustaining the Economic Development of Mauritius

(http://colleges.indiaedu.com/africa/mauritius/high-education.html)

15

http://books.google.mu/books?
id=_biEHIxT4qIC&pg=PA272&lpg=PA272&dq=internationalization+of+the+ed
ucation+system+of+mauritius&source=bl&ots=hqB2qq9uxS&sig=vHZkna9HN
uRnc5zIEcR5vSalmCc&hl=en&sa=X&ei=LRpFVPCYLIa4OP66gKAD&redir_esc=y
#v=onepage&q=internationalization%20of%20the%20education%20system
%20of%20mauritius&f=false

http://www.lemauricien.com/article/diplomes-passeport-sans-visa

http://www.18ccem.orange.mu/education.htm

APPENDIX 1: New Structure of Mauritian Education System

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APPENDIX 2: QUESTIONNAIRE

17

1. Profile Of The Institution

1.1 Name of Institution: ..
1.2 Region in which the institution is situated:
Rural
Urban
1.3 How many faculties does your institution possess?
1

1.4 How many students are enrolled per year: ..

1000- 2000

2000- 3000

3000- 4000

4000- 5000

>5000

2. Quality Of Tertiary Institutions

2.1 How would you rate the quality of education that is provided by the existing tertiary
institutions in Mauritius?
Excellent

Very Good

Good

Satisfactory

Fair

2.2 How would you assess the quality of the different modules / programmes being proposed
by the existing tertiary institutions?
Excellent

Very Good

Good

Satisfactory

Fair

2.3 Are the programmes / modules well designed?

Yes

No

2.4 If no, how can they be improved? Please specify:

18

3. Field Of Study
3.1 In which field do you think Mauritius can excel taking into consideration how far
globalization has an impact on these fields?
Information & Communication Technologies (ICT)
Medical hub
Business
Finance and financial services
Hospitality Management
Logistics Management / Services
Others, please specify: .

3.2 In which field do you think there can be a major enrolment of fresh graduates?

4. Investment In Tertiary Education:

4.1 In which ways can Mauritius attract potential investors to invest in the tertiary education
sector in the country?
Good transport facilities / Accessibility
Adequate regulatory framework
Maintaining good relationships with target market countries
Lower internet access costs at a reasonable internet speed
Computer literacy population
Political stability
Others, please specify: ..

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4.2 How can the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) help in setting up the knowledge hub
in Mauritius?

4.3 Do you think Mauritius is ready to be considered as a knowledge hub and center for
excellence?
Yes

No

5. Impact Of Globalization
5.1 Which sector do you think has been affected mostly by globalisation in Mauritius?

5.2 Do you think the government is investing enough in the tertiary sector in Mauritius?
Yes

No

If yes, please state some developments which have been bought in the higher education
sector recently.

5.3 What are your views on the effect of globalization on the higher education in Mauritius?

6. Career Opportunities
6.1 What is your plan once you have been graduated?
o Continuing to Study
o Employment in the Public Sector
o Employment in the Private Sector
o Self Employed
o Employment in Family Business
o
6.2 Did u get any career possibilities before you applied for any field in the higher
education?

20

Yes

No

If yes, what were the sources?

..

6.3 Do you think internships are important during the university period?
Yes

No

Specify reasons for your answer.

...

6.4 According to you, why fresh graduates are having difficulties to get in the job market
nowadays in Mauritius?

Appendix 3: Gantt chart

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(Copied from Excel Sheet, original one has been sent by mail)

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