Implementing the IAGs and Commitments in regard to Education

1. Implementing the IAGs and Commitments in regard to Education National Voluntary Presentation Dr V. K. Bunwaree Minister of Education & Human Resources MAURITIUS July 2011

2. Situating Mauritius • Mauritius development policies are anchored in the country’s vision of a future that is prosperous for All promoted by an inclusive society where there is a myriad of opportunities and equality of treatment. • Achievement of this vision is centered on the mission of putting people first to ensure inclusive development. • Mauritius has one of the most generous welfare systems in Africa. Providing free health care and free education, among others. • Well on its way to attain its target with regard to the Millennium Development Goal in the field of education.

3. Situating Mauritius • Per capita income: 7,500 USD • the strongest performer on ‘Doing Business’ in the region • 72nd position on the Human Development Index • 45th position on the Human Poverty Index. • 57th position on the Global Competitiveness Index (2008-2009) • 55th position in 2010-2011 (World Economic Forum) • 73rd position in the Global Innovation Index (2009/2010) --- overall rankings with a GII score of 2.93. • 2nd in Africa on ICT Development Index (IDI) International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in 2010

4. The Human Development Index • The HDI for Mauritius, between 1980 and 2010, rose by 1.0% annually from 0.525 to 0.701 in 2010, which gives Mauritius a rank of 72 out of 169 countries with comparable data

5. Focus- RoadMap 1. Policy Successes 2. Policy Challenges & Constraints 3. Emerging Challenges 4. Support of Partners

6. Policy Successes (1) • Our policies have contributed to the near achievement of the MDGs, w.r.t • Hunger and Poverty alleviation • 2. Free and Compulsory Basic Education For All • 3. Gender equality

7. Policy Successes /Intervention: Beyond Traditional Social Safety Nets (1) • Focus on ‘pro-poor’ growth. • Strategies • Trust Fund for Vulnerable Groups -1995 • Empowerment Programme – 2006 • National Empowerment Fund - 2010 • Ministry of Social Integration - 2010 • .

8. Policy Successes/Intervention: Beyond Traditional Social Safety Nets (2) • Focus on ‘pro-poor’ growth. • Objectives of the Empowerment Program • securing viable employment for the currently unemployed due to industry restructuring; • encouraging entrepreneurship and improving the capacity and competitiveness of small entrepreneurs, especially in the global market to improve export competitiveness (SMEs) • providing transitional support to low-income and vulnerable households for housing ; and • enhancing education of the children in the most vulnerable households.

9. Policy Successes/ Intervention: Beyond Traditional Social Safety Nets (3) • The Support to Unemployed Women Program • Training and reskilling of retrenched workers • The Support to Education of children from poor families • Pre-Primary school fees • Free lunches • Transportation • Medical examinations • School materials • ‘Accompagnement scolaire’.

10. Policy Successes/Intervention: Beyond Traditional Social Safety Nets (4) • Alternative to Social Aid that includes existing and new programs at the National Empowerment Fund like: • Training Programs to enhance employability, including life skills training • Provision of crèche facilities and after school care child minding services to release parents, especially mothers to undertake income generating activities • Ensuring well-being of the family with special focus on care and education of children • Upgrading the living environment of the beneficiaries • Promoting harmonious community living • Social housing with good living conditions

11. Policy Successes: Education • Education has been free through the secondary level since 1977 and also for FT undergraduate programs at the University of Mauritius since 1988 and partly subsidized for the second public university, the University of Technology, Mauritius. • Education is compulsory for all up to the age of 16 as from January 2005 so that basic education covers 11 years of education. • A high enrolment rate at pre-primary level, nearing 94% in 2010 • The Net Enrolment Rate in primary education is 96% (2010) with 98% of female and male pupils respectively reaching Grade 6( the last year of primary schooling) with 82% of pupils progressing to secondary schools • The GTER currently stands at 47%.

12. Literacy Rate • From 1990 to 2000, the literacy rate increased from 80.8 to 85.0 percent. • The illiteracy rate highest among adults aged 55 and over. • The literacy rate for the age group 15-24 years was 94.5 percent as measured by the census of 2000. • The higher literacy rate for females for this age group indicates a reversal of the situation that previously prevailed.

13. Policy Successes: Gender Equality • No gender gaps or disparities in enrolment at pre-primary, primary, secondary and post secondary levels. • The ratio of girls to boys in primary school is very high-- at around 97%--while at the secondary and tertiary levels, girls dominate with a ratio of over 100%. • Boys and girls are offered the same curriculum in co-educational settings at primary and in a mix of co-ed and • single-sex schools at secondary level

14. Key Policy Challenge: Ensuring successful completion of schooling • The yearly drop-out rate at primary level is around 0.5 %. • At the secondary level every year, about 1.5 % students leave the system before reaching the fourth year of secondary schooling. • In addition, about 9 %, students enrolled in the pre-vocational stream (which caters for the double failures at the CPE) do not complete the third year of pre-vocational education. • These children enter adolescence ill-prepared for work, further schooling and the practicalities of coping with life.

15. Key Policy Challenge : Ensuring successful completion of schooling • The real issue is to ensure that all children successfully complete secondary education. • Currently, around 35% of children fail to obtain the CPE. Of these about 20 % repeat the CPE and those having failed CPE twice or who have reached the age of 13 are enrolled in the three-year prevocational stream. • A cohort analysis reveals that, out of 100 children entering Grade I, only 27 complete the last grade at upper secondary. • Thus the challenge today remains the successful completion of primary and secondary education by all as it is upper secondary education that serves as the foundation for advanced learning and training opportunities, as well as preparation for direct entry into the labor market.

16. Key Policy Challenge : Inclusive Education • Addressing the different needs of children • Special Education Needs (SEN Strategy – 2006) • Strategies for those with Learning difficulties (Continuous Assessment and Remediation) • Children coming from disadvantaged backgrounds (ZEP Strategy) • Learners Unsuccessful at the end of primary (Prevocational Strategy) • Needy Students (HRKAD Fund, exam subsidies, free textbooks) • Gifted and talented

17. Inclusion of Children with severe impairments • Strategy • An appropriate regulatory framework • for adapted and quality education services for the different types of disabilities of children aged between 3+ and 20 years. • Appropriate quality assurance framework • to harmonize the level of educational services dispensed by the different stakeholders • An appropriate curriculum along with an adapted pedagogy • Capacity building programs for trainers and teaching personnel • Decentralized service • Partnership with Private Providers/ NGOs

18. Key Policies to accelerate Achievement • Consolidate the welfare state • Focus on sustainability: ‘Maurice Ile Durable’ Concept • Promotion of research in Tertiary Education Institutions • Reinforce Private Public Partnership ( Corporate Social Responsibility)

19. Corporate Social Responsibility • Utilisation of CSR being reviewed. • Use 50% of the CSR resources to focus on three National Programmes. • Social Housing; • Welfare of Children from Vulnerable Groups; • Eradication of Absolute Poverty. • An estimated Rs 5 billion is expected to be mobilised from CSR over the next ten years to support these programmes. (Budget Speech 2010)

20. Emerging Challenges • 1: Consolidating a culture of Lifelong Learning and Tertiary Education • Shift from high social demand for basic education to a craving for higher education (one graduate per family) • Improving access to Tertiary Education necessitates ensuring • Alleviation of the secondary education bottleneck through diversity in admission criteria • Financial Sustainability of Tertiary Education • Expanding Space and Infrastructure provision • Encouraging private sector investment in TE • Quality Assurance of Private Sector • Quality Assurance of Distance Education programmes • Developing a culture of Lifelong Learning and Tertiary Education Overarching objective: Transform Mauritius into a Knowledge Economy

21. Emerging Challenges 2. Addressing the Skills gap: Eliminating Mismatch between Supply and Demand of skills

22. Desired • Present Professional Highly-Skilled & Multiskilled Skilled Semi-skilled Unskilled

23. Measures taken • Various measures have been initiated by different authorities to bridge the gap of skills supply and skills requirements • Placement for Training Program, Mix of Work and Training with credits allocated for each Student Work Experience Program (SWEP), • Setting up of Faculty Industry Advisory committees for mounting of Programs • Circular Migration, • Espace des métiers, • Life Skills Program, • Special Entrepreneurship Programme, • Special Program for Unemployed Women (SPUW), and • Training and re-skilling under the Eradication of Absolute Poverty programme

24. Sustaining the International Support System • Paying the Price for Success: Policy intervention • To ensure the country’s survival in a highly competitive, • open and globalised economy, • an economic reform program structured around four main pillars embarked upon ( since 2005) • fiscal consolidation and public sector efficiency; • improving trade competitiveness; • improving the investment climate; and • democratizing the economy through participation, • social inclusion and sustainability

25. Sustaining the International support system - Assistance must be aligned with national challenges and ownership. - Development Partners must adopt a joint programming modality - Coordinated interventions and aid harmonization following priority areas identified by the country. • Mauritian Approach: • Country Partnership Strategy based on the vision of the country developed jointly with Development Partners • Ministry of Finance and Economic Development • coordinates all development assistance. • Selects priority projects critical for the Government program on the basis of a Business Plan whereby these are matched against fields/ domains where the Development Partners have a comparative advantage. • Benefit: • Duplication of activities avoided.

26. Thank You