Mauritius has a strong potential to become a centre of learning and research. Yet there is a long way between saying and doing. It requires a strong political will and a high degree of dedication on the part of everyone, particularly the stakeholders. Sir Veerasamy Ringadoo, as minister of Finance soon after independence, once stated in a TV interview that to be born in Mauritius was in itself good luck, a privilege for any of our countrymen. Until one left the country, one might take his words for a joke, a gross exaggeration. This is because people used to call Mauritius a blasted hell. Those were the days when many of our countrymen who had the means or the possibilities were making for greener pastures. Once out of the country or on homecoming afterwards, most started to realise that Mauritius is indeed a paradise. Perhaps the only exception, they would say, were the educational facilities that their children could enjoy in their countries of adoption.

Call it what you will ? an accident of history or whatever for us to be bilingual, trilingual, or to be able to use more languages. Are we not lucky to have English as our official language side by side with French, Asian languages and Creole?

One can have a strong emotional attachment to one?s ancestral language, which one gets the chance to learn from early schooling and wishes to preserve. That?s fine. But English must be given pride of place everywhere in the country. Such is the state of things in today?s fast changing world. Many countries are spending fortunes on the teaching of English to develop their competitive edge. We have the major advantage of being able to learn English right from pre- primary.

In the August 20-27 2007 issue of Newsweek under the heading ?GLOBAL EDUCATION ? THE RACE IS ON ?, Emily. F. VENKAT writes that the winners in the new global education race will be those countries with institutions that are most international at every level. They will boast multicultural student bodies, elite foreign campuses, offer internationally recognised degrees and no matter where they?re based, will teach in English ? still very much the global language of business, research and technology .

One can have a strong emotional attachment to one?s ancestral language, which one gets the chance to learn from early schooling and wishes to preserve. That?s fine. But English must be given pride of place.

It is further reported that, to sweeten the deal for students, many of Asia?s cutting-edge institutions have started offering degrees in English. This is threatening one of the greatest advantages enjoyed by the United States and the United Kingdom. The days are long gone when the world?s best schools ? Harvard,Yale, Cambridge and Oxford could rest on their laurels and expect the best students to come to them: the educational landscape is reshaping because of various trends.

Well positioned as Mauritius is to become an education hub, a lot of hard work remains to be done. For sure, our policy makers are moving in the right direction to say that they are planning to make Mauritius a centre of excellence in research and teaching. Though efforts are there, the teaching and learning of English in general should be taken very seriously to reach out to more students.

Time was when sugar was the mainstay of our economy. Then came textiles and tourism. Thanks to its strategic position, Mauritius was hailed as the star and the key of the Indian Ocean before the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869. History can repeat itself as all indications show. But it all depends on the will to make it happen. Mauritius can become an education hub that will generate more revenue for the country, which is doing well enough despite a few economic ills.

<B>By Kaviraj SOHUR</B>