Mauritius: The Vice-Prime Minister, Minister of Education, Tertiary Education, Science and Technology, Leela Devi Dookun-Luchoomun, called on educators to harness technology and AI in the teaching and learning process to enable students to acquire the relevant knowledge and skills to thrive and succeed in the future.
The Vice-Prime Minister appealed yesterday, at the first session of the Mauritius Institute of Education (MIE) Graduation 2023, held at the Paul Octave Wiéhé Auditorium in Réduit, for awardees of the Bachelor of Education (Secondary), Bachelor of Education (Primary), and Diploma in Special Educational Needs.
The Director of the MIE, Dr Hemant Bessoondyal; the Chairperson of the MIE Council, Dr Jayantee Naugah; and various eminent personalities were present at the event.
In her address, the Vice-Prime Minister and Chief Guest of the Graduation Ceremony underlined the important role of teachers in the education process, which, she said, had as a goal to foster the child’s holistic development.
Hence, she stressed the necessity for teachers and educators to master and shape technologies to serve the purpose of preparing students and equipping them with the necessary skills to excel in the modern world.
The various lessons gained from teaching and learning from home during the pandemic were put forward as well by Dookun-Luchoomun, as she saluted the audacity, resilience, and eagerness of teachers in those difficult times.
She pointed out that the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic had brought forth the human, physical and emphatic connections in the teacher-student relationship, with students rushing back with renewed energy to schools once the lockdowns were lifted.
In the same vein, the Vice-Prime Minister believed that the challenges faced in today’s world, whether be it pandemic or climate change, impacted the traditional standards of schooling, namely the 3Rs of education: reading, writing and arithmetic.
She stated that education fundamentals were now driven by the new 3Rs: responsiveness, resilience and relationships. Congratulating the new graduates on their achievements, Dookun-Luchoomun commended their efforts and determination.
She urged them to become ‘life-long learners’, adding that upskilling, reskilling and deskilling were crucial to cope in an ever-changing world and to respond to the needs of the children and demands of society so that the future generation would be able to seize the multiple opportunities generated by unexpected challenges.
Moreover, she called on the new graduates to commit themselves to innovate since the task ahead as an educator was demanding but extremely gratifying.
According to the Vice-Prime Minister, Government was sparing no effort in providing a level playing field to all citizens so that there would be no barriers to pre-primary, primary, secondary and tertiary education in Mauritius.
Dookun-Luchoomun thus was adamant that free tertiary education was not solely for school leavers but also for people in employment who would like to upgrade their competencies through a certificate, a diploma or a degree.
