Last week brought another item of distressing news about those students in Engineering who, after having passed all prescribed examinations, find that their certificates are not recognized. We can all readily sympathize with them and their parents who must have spent a huge amount of money to get their sons and daughters to become degree holders.

It is hard to imagine that the Regulatory authorities allowed such a situation to fester for so long without being concerned by the fate of the students. Had the latter known about what was awaiting them surely they would not have embarked on such a course of study. In the process some people made quite a bit of money. What was taught during the years of study must be a matter which needs probing.

At a time when this “plaisir” country is trying to occupy a place of excellence in the world of academia and promoting itself as an educational centre designed to attract foreign students, this Engineering mishap assumes a disastrous proportion. It is a frontal blow to all the campaign which all taxpayers have funded to set Mauritius on the educational map. Heads must roll as the damage to our reputation is unquantifi able particularly in this age of social networks which of the young eager to look for opportunities to study
overseas.

The Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) has become an unmitigated disaster and the Prime Minister must take measures so that the country does suffer no more from inept heads of institutions. He had promised a tsunami but the forecast was cast away. Not in a tsunami though.

What Mauritius requires to undo the damage done by the TEC in bringing in educational establishments of a somewhat dubious background is to go for universally recognised educational institutions. These are more likely to come from the United States of America, Yale or Stanford universities, or from European ones, London School of Economics or Sorbonne, from India J Nehru University. Countries like Malaysia, Singapore and Qatar have proceeded along that route and they have become known around the world as countries that offer world class education. Qatar is offering the most modern facilities for students from all over the world. Over time Qatar will recoup all its investments and the system will be a money-spinner.

If we continue in attracting mediocre educational institutions the future for the country is really bleak. It is a fact that the world class universities that will be interested in coming to set up a branch here will expect to be handsomely rewarded. This is only natural and we must be ready to welcome them and pay whatever is asked for provided that, in the long term, the country benefits from the investment. The lead time may be long but the image of a country as a provider of cheap and unrecognized education must be shed as fast as possible. If we continue along the path as set out by the TEC and the Ministry responsible for tertiary education, we are heading straight towards a precipice. It may be worthwhile to recall this saying: if you pay peanuts you will get monkeys.