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Article Title:
Mauritius as a Regional Hub for Higher Education in Africa: Opportunities and Challenges
by Aleesha Mohamudally - Boolaky and Kesseven Padachi

Abstract:
The internationalization of tertiary education under the GATS has allowed the expansion of different forms of cross border tertiary education worldwide, including in Africa although with a lagged effect. However, due to some difficulties of commercial providers to settle in the African continent associated with the lack of resources, the outbound mobility of African students is the most common form of cross border education. Combined with the efforts of the African communities to promote intra regional mobility, this represents a considerable opportunity for Mauritius to emerge as a regional hub. The aim of this conceptual paper is to assess the potential and the challenges of the Mauritian government to achieve this objective. Data and information gathered has allowed to show the remarkable and sustainable growth of Mauritian tertiary Education sector in terms of enrollment of local as well as foreign students in a relatively short span of time. The exponential expansion has been possible through aggressive campaigns to attract international tertiary education providers (TEIs) and students from the region and at the same time through the establishment of an effective regulatory framework. While, this study has given insights of the potential of the Mauritian tertiary education and its rapid expansion, it has also highlighted the major hurdles in achieving the objective of positioning as a hub for the African continent. These are principally linked with the implementation of the recommendations of the regional communities in terms of harmonization and alignment of fees. Furthermore, the government will have to maintain the quality of education through consolidation of the quality assurance and through constant upgrading of competencies of academics. This study has shown that challenges can only be overcome by devising a strong long term funding strategy with the involvement of the private sector as well as regional and international donors.

Keywords: internationalisation, tertiary education, cross border education, student mobility, regionalization

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