Mauritius has a long tradition and a solid reason to promote study in Russia based on the qualitative and quantitative results derived from the past experience of bilateral cooperation between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Mauritius.

Russia is historically a very rich country with a strong education system. Many countries have learned from the Russian Education System and its experience. It has been an example even for developed countries which are now leaders in various rankings. It deserves a deeper look for further strategic development.

It cannot be a secret to anyone that the Russian Federation has become a modern and rapidly-developing nation with a population reaching about 147 million inhabitants. Russia occupies the first place in the world with 99.6% rate of literacy. It is known that 54% of Russians between 25 and 64 have university degrees. Russia takes pride in its education system which is considered as the best in the world. This mechanism as a dominantly high quality of prestigious education and professional training hub has to a large extent contributed positively to the backbone of the socio-economic, cultural and scientific progress and a very remarkable development of the Russian Federation.

The majority of the Russian Universities which enrol foreign students and scholars have very good infrastructure and scientific research centres. They have well-structured multi-profile highly qualified lecturers and professors, academicians, teachers, many groups of scientific researchers of international calibre, and competent staff members. More than 1500 foreign professors are invited with specific courses of lectures every year under various academic exchange programs.

Every year the Government of the Russian Federation offers no less than 20 scholarships to Mauritian citizens to pursue higher academic, technical and professional education and training in universities of higher learning in Russia.

It is to be noted that foreign students including Mauritians are also admitted to the universities on self-financing contractual basis and the cost of education and professional training in Russia is quite attractive and affordable. The tuition fees are comparatively lower than those of other European and American universities which allow students from Mauritius and other developing countries to go for inexpensive self-financing education as well. The average tuition fees for one academic year vary from 2800 to 4350 USD depending on the chosen speciality.

The Medical Council of Mauritius has created a dramatic confusing situation whereby a press article entitled “Mesure du Medical Council” published in l’express of 26^th July 2016, explains that there is a closed list of recognised Medical Institutions of Higher Learning and effective from January 2017 they will be the guiding force for prospective medical undergraduate and postgraduate students.

This has been a good eye-opener and has since developed into a cancer which seems to be incurable in the eyes of the members of the Board of the Medical Council. The latter has even attempted to have the selected list vetted by the Minister and approved by the Council of Ministers as the Medical Council Regulations 2016, made under the Act.

According to the information published in the local newspapers, it seems that the Medical Council has been biased on the QS World University Rankings surveyed results, although QS has put it clearly that the results of the survey cannot be used to work out plans and strategies of governments. More-so, the closed list indicates some universities which are not on the QS list of advanced recognised bodies and even have not yet produced any medical doctor as such. The list is purely an amateurish one as many world recognised medical universities by the UNESCO and the World Health Organisation from the Russian Federation do not appear on the list.

The departure from Russian State Medical Universities will have a big gap in the Mauritian Health Care System. It is a miscalculation to do away with an advanced Russian Medical Education System as an undervalued process. Mauritius in the long run may face serious shortage of doctors which may increase in the near future if it remains an unchecked strategy. This trend may disorientate and destabilise the health care system operation, particularly due to absence of a proper national career guidance service and an adequate human resource planning. Mauritius will be facing huge challenges if the government does not take a serious look at issues and reform of the health care system particularly when we want Mauritius to become a modern healthcare hub in the region.

The Russian State Medical Universities are homogenous based on the unique study syllabus as recognised and controlled by the Ministry of Higher Specialized Education and the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation. They are all under the quality control and assurance system of Higher Educational Institutions. So, to say that only a limited few are recognized of good standard by the Medical Council is not accurate. All the Russian state universities, including the medical institutions of higher learnings, they all operate under best and strict conditions

The University Degree is recognised in all countries of the world in accordance with concluded international treaties and international agreements between the Russian Federation and a foreign state or a group of foreign states. Such an agreement exists for Mauritius which was signed in 1977 and is still valid. Most of the Russian Universities have higher standards and are rated among the top universities by the European University Association.

We were shocked when we learned from the local l’express newspaper of 26/07/16 about the ill-intention of the Medical Council of Mauritius to have a closed list of recognised medical universities whereby Russian and Ukrainian Universities were ousted and by a stroke of the pen, 55 years of friendly relations and more than 40 years of bilateral co-operation between the Governments of Mauritius and Russia was threatened.

Today we wonder how the Russian state medical universities are being blacklisted on the argument that there has been serious cases of medical negligence reported and yet no proof of such cases has been disclosed to the public whereby that mostly doctors from the Russian universities are involved. These allegations are misleading, ill-motivated and detrimental to the good repute of the Russian Education System.

More than a thousand of Mauritians have studied in different fields of their choice and who have graduated from the universities of USSR and the Russian Federation are successfully serving the country.

The Medical Council would agree that it is most unfair and inconceivable that the prestige and the integrity of the Russian State Medical Universities are hijacked by the stroke of the pen without recognising the valuable efforts and positive contributions of Russia to the development of a good standard of health care system in many countries of Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

His Excellency, Mr. Shyam Khemloliva, Ambassador of Mauritius in Moscow, had also expressed his disappointment and sadness by this unthoughtful decision of the Medical Council, whereby the Russian and Ukrainian universities are of high quality. There are popular universities of medicine in Russia and Ukraine (l’express 03/08/16 – Pp.4).

Under the Medical Council’s highly controversial closed list of recognized medical universities, it is surprising to note that graduates of the Russian State Medical Universities are legally not apt to work and practice in the Republic of Mauritius, whereby same graduates can work in any Russian medical institution and more so in all the 47 European countries signed up to the Bologna Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education. They can as well work in other countries like Japan, India, Sri Lanka, China and many more but not in Mauritius. Is the Medical Council over and above the authority of the World Health Organisation and UNESCO in this respect? Similar questions are raised by many parents of potential graduates and students from several French, German and Ukrainian universities which are not on the said list.

Henceforth, graduated doctors from the listed universities will be exempted from pre-registration examinations and only evaluation exams will be conducted for them after the 18 months of internship. Where is the notion of equal opportunity and equal right and, equal treatment in this country? How may they be better than others? Is it true that “everybody is equal but some privileged are more equal than others”?

We consider that all graduates of Medical Universities seeking registration to practice in Mauritius independently from where they may have been qualified as doctors should indiscriminately take pre-registration examination to be eligible as interns and thereafter completion of the training period, be re-examined and re-evaluated as may be required for registration as fully qualified doctors/medical practitioners.  

Allegations published in the local newspapers suggesting that Universities of the Russian Federation are lower in grade and rating according to QS is fake presentation of the reality. It all reveals the strategy that opponents of dialogue and co-operation with Russia are likely to pursue most furiously and perpetually in Europe all throughout and has reached the borders of the Republic of Mauritius and it may become routine.

Under such circumstances, it prompts to assume that it could have been no other purpose than plotting against Russian Education system and its Medical Institutions of Higher learning, thus undermining public opinion in Mauritius. The motivation of the Medical Council and its president’s allegations require testimony from key silenced witnesses, whose claims are potentially unverifiable.