Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1698142561444.pdf (Mauritius)
Address of Hon ( Mrs) L.D.

Dookun-Luchoomun Minister of Education and Human Resources, Tertiary Education and Scientific Research Ground Breaking Ceremony Middlesex University Wednesday October 26, 2016 Ladies and Gentlemen Good afternoon to all of you.

I deeply appreciate the opportunity given to me to say a few words on the occasion of this Ground Breaking Ceremony.

Well, the first thing that comes to mind is inevitably the grandeur of the enterprise.
As we have just heard, the Middlesex University Mauritius will, with this construction, be able to boast of a huge 8,000 m2 fit-for-purpose campus.

Significantly, this campus will not only be a state-of –the- art one with its cutting-edge IT laboratories, lecture theatres, learning resource centre and all the accompanying paraphernalia for study and leisure , but it will also have the additional advantage of being at the very heart of the Medine Smart City.
The benefits to be accrued by the Mauritius Campus from this new positioning are likely to be massive.

For one thing, the impact on the enrolment of students will be inevitable.

We know the extent to which the Higher Education landscape in Mauritius has been enriched by a number of providers, both public and private.

That has been a direct consequence of a policy of encouraging a qualitative and diverse provision of tertiary and professional education.
This diversity of provision has resulted in the availability of greater options for students—and we know that choices are determined by what Higher Education institutions can offer.

In this equation, the quality of facilities is among the most sought-after features.

A second advantage resulting from the new campus and its facilities will most definitely be the faculty recruitment process.

Top of the grade facilities always attract topnotch professionals only too keen to offer their services!
And, we should not forget that the Medine Group has spearheaded its own strategy and set up an organizational structure that canvases for and facilitates the recruitment of international students.

Ladies and gentlemen, I have had the opportunity of stressing this before: the transformation of Mauritius into a Knowledge Hub relies also on the space for cross- border education and the internationalization of tertiary education.
Today’s ceremony is as well the celebration of an important milestone in the development and growth of Medine as an Education Hub proper.

Its quest for quality HE offerings has already attracted programmes from such prestigious institutions as l’ Ecole Centrale de Nantes, Université Paris II Pantheon-Assas, Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de Nantes and ESSEC Business School.

And now it’s the turn of Middlesex.


There is, I believe, strong merit to having different institutions within one Campus providing a variety of programmes.

In the first place, the possibility for personal exchanges between and among students from different backgrounds and environments is greatly conducive to a high level intercultural understanding.

We in Mauritius do pride ourselves on interculturality as our national forte—herein lies an opportunity to see that for real and in action.
On the other hand, the presence of different higher education providers paves the way for inter-institutional collaboration and complementarity.

We all realise the futility for institutions to live in an ivory tower: sharing and partnership are the new names of the games—and I am positive that Middlesex University Mauritius will tread on that seminal track.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I see a lot of symbolism here in this Ground Breaking ceremony: Medine’s Smart City is turning out to be a fertile soil for many renowned Universities to implant themselves here Congratulations are therefore in order to all parties concerned.

And I certainly look forward to being with all of you here once the Middlesex University Mauritius Campus will have been completed.

Thank you for your attention.