University of Mauritius Review

Located in Reduit, one of the coolest parts of the island of Mauritius, the University of Mauritius (UoM) is the leading institution of tertiary education nationally. The UoM officially opened its doors in 1965 after 135 years of due fighting for the promotion of tertiary education as a means to encourage knowledge at a cheaper price on the island. Since then, the university has made enormous progress and is considered as one of the best universities regionally, ranking 32 in the African region as well as being the cheapest one locally. The UoM has a large campus composing mainly of the faculty of agriculture, law and management, engineering, science and social studies and humanities and provide for online courses as well. Over the years research work has advanced a great deal such that besides providing scholarships based on best performances per faculty, other research scholarships are given to interested students as vacation schemes.  The accreditation centre of the UoM in Mauritius is the Ministry of Education; regionally it is affiliated to the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) and the Association of African Universities (AAU). Courses range from diplomas to taught masters which are recognised internationally. The UoM also has a centre for professional development and lifelong learning, centre for consultancy and contract research, virtual centre for innovative learning technologies and a centre for information technology and systems.  The teaching medium is English with some modules in French. The UoM has a student body of about 9000 to date with roughly equal number of male and female students. While half a century ago the thought of attending university would never have crossed a girl’s mind, today they are given the same rights to education as boys and have also been noted to perform better.  Students’ eligibility for university access is based on their higher school marks, both locally and internationally. Since education is free in Mauritius, local students have to pay only for the tuition fees which varies according to the respective faculties based on the number of teaching hours, lab fees etc. International students have to pay about US $4200 for tuition fees, US $460 for general fees and US $20 for student’s fund fee (+US $150 lab fee if needed);  SADC member countries pay only 50% i.e.  (US $2100) for tuition fees with the remaining other fees. The university does not provide accommodation to international students but arrangements can be made in helping students find proper houses in the university vicinity. The need to study at a university is now being recognised as primordial in order to get a nice well paid job as well as to meet up to the proper standard of living. Finding a job in Mauritius nowadays is next to impossible without a degree and more often than not a master’s degree is a pre requisite in getting some jobs. As the island is developing at a fast rate, so is becoming the need of the proper graduates in the right jobs. Some workplaces even provide interesting packages based on the qualification (Mphil, Phd etc) i.e the higher up the qualification, the more cash in hand. In an attempt to promote tertiary education in Mauritius, the government came up with a programme in this respect based mainly on broadening the range of higher school results, providing scholarships to needy students as well as assistance during the study period. A main driver of education is also the asset of free transport to university students. While some years ago, a student could have been spending roughly US $1 per day only in transportation (bus), today students only have to present their bus pass and ride to university freely. Given that most Mauritian families are middle class citizens, this has indeed boosted university access.  But, while the intake has increased by about 10% during  the past decade, the local tuition fees have also risen by more than 50% in the same decade The University of Mauritius not only provides a platform for education, but is also a place to learn a new way of life, to get a sense of the “creole” life as reflected in the multi cultural dances, parties, shows organised by the student body in this aim. University life is supposed to be one of the best memories of one’s life, the UoM just provides for these unique and exhilarating moments.