Education is the key to economic success and poverty alleviation in Mauritius

Beebeejaun also iterated that education performs as a barricade against illiteracy and carries the advantage in making poverty- mitigation a reality, outlining further investments should be made by many countries,citing some recent findings by the UN.

“Besides poverty alleviation, also fosters peace and development of human capital and is a means to attain a competitive edge and prosperity. It is primordial for education to be accessible to all, he said.

“According to global statistics, 61 million of children are out of primary school, more than 50 million will still be out of school in 2015 if the current situation persists and 796 million are illiterate, out of which two-thirds are women,” he added.

In chorus to Deputy PM’S remarks, Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Xavier-Luc Duval in a statement expressed the crucial role of education in Mauritian society cannot be underestimated, which decreases the gap between the rich and deprived, aiding the economic development Of Mauritius concurrently.

“Education cuts across all spheres of life and helps each individual to be a good citizen as well as being a productive citizen. Modernisation of education systems should become the lead motive of all education policies in the country in order to be competitive.”

“The economy requires people with knowledge but also those who take decisions, apply logic, take risks, solve problems, as well as people who are creative, innovative and productive. All these should come from a good education system”,he added.

Recent figures from the Ministry of Education and Statistics Of Mauritius shows an improvement in education in the country.

The Pass rate for Certificate of Primary Education (CPE) examinations enlarged from 68 % in 2009 to 68.5% in 2010. For the School Certificate (SC), the pass rate progressed somewhat from 77.6% in 2009 to 77.8% in 2010.

In 2004, the HSC pass rate was 76%; it jumped to 79 per cent in 2011.

While university enrolments went from 41,484 in 2009 to 44,334 in 2010, a 6.9% increase.Much of these figures dont show the over 10,000 Mauritian tertiary students studying overseas in Australia,France and United Kingdom,the traditional overseas study nations.

However according to reports by the Ministry of Education and non-governmental educational orgnaizations the school dropout rate in Mauritius is around 30 percent per year,mostly coming from low income families that make up 40 percent of the population .

Mauritius spends 13 per cent overall government expenditure on education, according to the United Nations. In 2011 alone, government spending on education was Rs 11.7 million 384,868,425 (USD) demonstrating 12.5 % of total expenditure, according to the Ministry of Education,which co-incidently has been lower than previous years outlined by budget forecasts.

The Cabinet declared recently that universal education is the “bedrock of competitiveness” in the 21st century and maintained that free education to its citizens from primary to university levels is vital ,which has been offered since 1968.

Related posts