Mauritius, so vibrant with ambitions, projects and activities, has succeeded in meeting its requirements by creating or attracting to its soil a multitude of educational and vocational training establishments, both public and private. The aim is to offer high-quality skills acquisition , as much for young people leaving high school as for professionals wishing either to improve their performance in their activity, or even to turn to another career. Jean-Louis Floch
These courses have three key characteristics:
– The immense diversity of the subjects taught (finance, management, high tech, hospitality, engineering, 3-D animation, hairdressing, cosmetology and many more…).
– Their flexibility: they offer different types of programs, long or short, face-to-face or online, alternating with a professional activity, adapted to the needs of companies…
– Their international standing: many of these establishments are backed by educational brands established and recognized throughout the world, giving international compatibility to their diplomas and know-how.
Like any modern democratic nation, Mauritius has always devoted a significant share of its GDP to educating its youth, and in the 20e century a network of public primary, secondary and higher education establishments, universities and technological institutes.
As early as 1971, the creation of theSir Gaëtan Duval Hotel School illustrates the extent to which adapting education to the needs of the business world (in this case, the brand-new luxury tourism sector) was already a key choice for the island. Located in EbonyWith its state-of-the-art professional equipment, the school offers one day a week of classroom courses covering all areas of the hotel and catering industry: Food Production, Pastry Production, Bakery, Butchery, Housekeeping, Front Office, Laundry, Villa Service, Restaurant and Bar Service. The other five days are spent in industry. The school has an international partnership with Pearson Education Limited (UK) and the University of Angers, France.
Over the past fifteen years, however, the country has seen the emergence of a myriad of private institutes offering high-quality education and training, illustrating both the country’s economic strength and its international ambitions. To support this qualitative movement, the Mauritian government created two authorities in 2017: the Higher Education Commission (HEC), responsible for registering higher education establishments and accrediting their programs, and the Quality Assurance Authority (QAA ), responsible for ensuring their quality, in line with international standards, and carrying out regular audits.
The HEC officially recognizes 9 public higher education establishments in Mauritius and 33 private institutions. Of these 33 private institutions, no more than 7 have the power to award degrees of their own accord. The others award degrees in affiliation with other universities. Diplomas, Certificates, Bachelors, Postgraduate diplomas, Postgraduate Certificates, Masters or Doctorates for the most part are compatible with and recognized by higher education establishments abroad, notably in Europe and Australia.
A forerunner in this dynamic, since it is now 25 years old, theCharles Telfair Institute offers a wide range of programs at different levels on its campus: Business (management, finance, marketing, communication), Mathematics, Computer-aided design(theory and practice) and introduction to video, Health(knowledge of pathologies, assistance with services, preparation for health and nursing studies, introduction to psychology, biostatistics and epidemiology)… The institute, concerned with the comfort of its students, offers them a contemporary residence located on campus and close to university amenities such as library, cafeteria, canteen, sports activities and parking. The Charles Telfair Institute has a long-standing partnership with Curtin University, which also supplies the Australian North and Southern Metropolitan TAFE diplomas.
On another front, Telfair has acquired a stake in Vatel Mauritius, a private higher education establishment specializing in tourism, hotelsand catering, located on another vast campus, that of UNICITI in Pierrefonds, home to the Medine group.
UNICITI INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION HUB is an education and training behemoth, hosting multiple institutes and offering an extremely wide range of programs.
Middlesex University
Business management, accounting and finance, innovation and entrepreneurship, marketing, digital technology, cybersecurity, dataanalysisscience, law, business law, international law, health, psychology, Middlesex University offers a wide range of subjects from undergraduate to MBA, providing a British degree with an international future.
Courses are taught by internationally-qualified professors in state-of-the-art teaching spaces that encourage engagement, collaboration and innovation.
Postgraduate offerings, characterized by flexible delivery modes including evening classes and hybrid teaching, are aimed at professionals seeking career advancement and skills enhancement.
95% of Middlesex University graduates secure full-time employment or further study within six months of graduation.
MIDDLESEX UNIVERSITY
15 YEARS OF EXPANDING THE FIELD OF KNOWLEDGE!
Middlesex University, and Mauritius! can proudly celebrate 15 years of existence on the island. In 2010, when it was founded, its first cohort of students numbered fewer than 100. Today, annual enrolments exceed 1,700! And while 53% of the students are local, the rest come from all over the world: Africa, Sweden, Canada, New Guinea and many others – a fine illustration of the school’s international standing. All levels and programs combined, Middlesex University has graduated more than 4,000 students. The figures speak for themselves in terms of the success of this British university. But it’s not just about numbers.
Its offerings expand every year to meet the challenges ahead and the growing need for innovation and talent in Mauritius and around the world. This year, Middlesex University has introduced new degree programs in business computing, data science and even psychology.
These 15 flourishing years herald an ever-expanding future!
Employability will continue to be the university’s major objective, through its dedicated department which has developed a wide range of formal and informal relationships with industrial partners. It collaborates with over 300 organizations, companies, government agencies and others, which provide internship and job opportunities, and enable the organization of trade fairs such as the annual MDX JobFest. Networking, marketing, conferences and alumni engagement complete the dynamic employability watch! In the class of 2023, around 85% of graduates held senior-level positions, 3.3% had started their own business and 11% had continued their studies. Less than 1% were unemployed.
In tune with the needs of the modern world, in 2025 MDX will offer a program in mechatronics and another in robotics! State-of-the-art robotics labs will kick-start a campus expansion featuring creative studios, an amphitheater and a variety of new spaces. New formal and executive education offerings are also planned.
Middlesex University is well on its way to another 15 years of expanding its success!
Vatel Mauritius Hotel & Tourism Business School
Crowned “Best Hotel School” among more than 42 prestigious international establishments at the 17e Worldwide Hospitality Awards, the global Vatel group set up operations in Mauritius and Rodrigues in 2013.
10 classrooms seating 24 with dedicated wifi network, 2 mobile computer labs, 2 libraries, 65 000 e-books, a cafeteria, a meeting room, multiple collaborative work zones! Vatel pampers its students so that, with their Bachelor’s or MBA, they become the best managers in the international hotel business.
Based on a combination of theory and practical experience, Vatel teaches fundamental professional, legal, economic and linguistic skills, as well as management and team-building techniques.
University of Paris-Panthéon-Assas
In France, Panthéon-Assas, considered the benchmark for teaching law, economics and finance, adopted a strategy of internationalizing its knowledge in 2011, embodied by its campuses in Singapore and Dubai.
Present in Mauritius since 2015, 75 % teachers come from Paris and teach in English. They offer a wide range of highly selective, world-class programs.
A 3-year Bachelor’s degree with optional courses covering Common Law, Civil Law, Mauritian Lawlargely inspired by the Napoleonic Code, International Law and Comparative Law.
In addition, a Master’s degree in International Business Law, similar to those offered on the Paris, Dubai and Singapore campuses, has been designed to meet the requirements of both legal and non-legalprofessionals wishing to take their careers to the next level.
Finally, a solid three-year Bachelor of Arts program in Economics and Finance prepares students for international excellence in business, data science and financial management.
Proof of the value of these programs is that the Bachelor’s degrees are awarded by the Paris university!
Nantes National School of Architecture
TheÉcole Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture (ENSA) de Nantes opened a branch inMauritius in 2016, offering courses in architecture and urban planning.
The Bachelor ofArchitectureandUrban Planningat ENSA Nantes( Mauritius) is a basic three-year diploma leading to the Master ofArchitectureandUrban Planning. The Master d’Architectureet d’Urbanismeis a two-year higher diploma leading to the DEA (Diplôme d’Etat d’Architecte), authorizing the design of architectural projects, as well as access to consultancy, project management assistance, technical studies, urban planning and development.
Amity Mauritius
A branch of the Amity Group, which has dozens of campuses around the world, Amity Institute Of Higher Education Mauritius was launched in Mauritius in 2014. It is a private tertiary institution with the primary mission of becoming an African Education Hub.
From Bachelor’s to Master’s degrees, subjects include: Business Management, Management, Information Technology, Tourism and Hospitality Management, Project Management, Entrepreneurshipand Start-ups, Digital Marketing, Cybersecurity, Analytical Sciences, Data Science.
In 2025, continuously improving the quality of its offer, Amity Mauritius launches AMIGO, a new digital learning platform. This innovative offers students personalized learning paths supported by interactive multimedia content and dynamic assessment tools.
MCB Institute of Finance
Launching in March 2019, this training institute is the result of a strategic partnership between the historic MCB Banking Group and Uniciti Education Hub. Its vocation is to offer short and longer-term training courses to professionals from all industries in Financial Modelling & Valuation, Business Intelligence & Data and Commercial Banking & Credit.
And the Uniciti International Education Hub adventure is not about to end. In 2024, the education hub welcomed new renowned international partners such as The American Business School of Paris, SUPINFO, Vellore Institute of Technology, and Swansea University, significantly expanding its educational offering in key areas such as computer science, data science, artificial intelligence, engineering, health, business administration and digital marketing.
This imposing institution should not, however, overshadow the many small educational jewels scattered all over the island!
For over 19 years, Analysis Institute of Management (AIM) has offered three Master’s degree programs , a Bachelor’s degree program and numerous professional certificates. Among the most renowned are the International MBA, the Master in Marketing and Communication, the Master in Finance, and the European Bachelor in Art with a specialization in 2D/3Danimation.
This professional training offer is 100% guaranteed. AIM’s reputation is further enhanced by the fact that some 500 former students have become convinced ambassadors for Analysis’ quality, and are now leaders in their field. This trust has enabled the institute to recently open a branch in Madagascar.
AIM is distinguished by the integration of a very large number of foreign trainers. With the exception of its initial training in 2D/3D animation under the Rubika banner, 27 of the 30 foreign professors and experts teach management, finance and marketing to around a hundred students a year, more than half of whom are paid for by their companies!
Analysis Institute of Management is mainly aimed at professionals who want to redirect their careers towards the upper echelons, which implies a rich synergy between the institute and companies in the analysis of market needs and the adaptation of offerings. Increasingly, however, we are witnessing an individual approach on the part of professionals who are ready to make a personal investment in their career.
To achieve this, AIM offers part-time calendars over periods of 12 to 16 months , enabling them to study and work at the same time.
And the results are promising: 85 to 90 % of those who take the course are successful. % have a salary increase and career progression less than a year after the program.
Another major player in higher education, ALCHE, meets Mauritius’s African ambition
In 2025, ALCHE (African Leadership College of Higher Education) is the new name in Mauritius for a leading pan-African institution, the African Leadership College (ALC), which has established itself as a model of innovation in higher education. Building on a solid foundation in promoting education across the African continent, ALC had opened a private higher education institution in Mauritius in 2015, located in Pamplemousses.
The quality of its work, recognized by the Mauritian Higher Education Commission, now entitles it, under the name ALCHE, to independently accredit degrees for its four degree programs in International Business, Entrepreneurial Leadership, Computer Science and Software Engineering.
A strong collaboration between the institution and the private sector offers its future ethical and innovative leaders real-life learning opportunities, while helping to bridge the gap between academic provision and the job market.
THE BEACHCOMBER EXCEPTION
A pioneer in the luxury hotel industry in Mauritius, Beachcomber Resorts & Hotels is also a pioneer in the educational and professional inclusion of socially disadvantaged people, with a particular focus on young people, women and girls, as well as disabled.
Committed to this social responsibility, the Group has created in June 1999, the Fondation Espoir Développement Beachcomber (FED) was created, with the aim of helping people in precarious situations to reintegrate into society.
This noble ambition is based on four pillars: training to be self-sufficient, access to apprenticeships, work experience and job search support.
In practical terms, the Fondation Espoir Développement is developing a wide range of programs to implement its ambitions. One example is the From Disability to Ability project, which recently trained 13 young deaf people and a group of intellectually challenged people to learn, train and find employment!
Polytechnics Mauritius is a technical higher education institution operating since 2017 and having spun off 6 campuses in the country, including one in Rodrigues. In close connection and collaboration with the Mauritian entrepreneurial fabric, it establishes programs that meet the country’s emerging needs for qualified human resources, namely IT, New Technologies, Robotics Engineering, Cybersecurity, but also Health, Nursing, Architecture, Hotel Management, Sport and many others…
Polytechnics Mauritius campuses benefit from skills labs and design spaces equipped with the latest technologies and innovations, where young students develop both academic and technical skills.
Close collaboration between industry and Polytechnics Mauritius is complemented by that of the Industry Advisory Committee (IAC), a government body that provides expert advice on the relevance of potential industrial avenues or on working practices that are useful in a rapidly changing world.
As part of this collaboration, students spend 30-50% of their time in industry, on internships, or on campus, in simulation rooms.
Another illustration ofthe close relationship between its teaching and the realities of the working world, All Polytechnics Mauritius trainers come from industry, have degrees in their specific fields and significant experience in research and teaching, sometimes abroad. Some even work and train part-time, honouring the close connection between the institution and industry!
In a very different register, but no less removed from professional reality, theAcademy of Design and Innovation (ADI), the new name since 2022 of the former Fashion and Design Institute, which was created in 2009 to meet a demand from the textile sector, calls on the creative talents of young Mauritians.
The Academy now offers a variety of online courses mastered by specially trained teachers to broaden its student base, and provides multiple diplomas touching on all facets of the Graphic Arts: graphic design, digital design, typography and printing, interior decoration, fashion and textiles, fashion accessories, garment manufacturing, jewelry, photography, manual and digital illustration, animation…
Packaging is also on the program, and is emblematic of the spirit that presides over ADI, as it focuses on the design of sustainable packaging. Indeed, it’s worth noting that all ADI teaching is founded on a fervent commitment to sustainability and ecology.
An exhaustive list of world-class teaching centers and institutes is impossible to complete here. We could mention, for example, numerous training establishments in cosmetology, hairdressing, facial care, engineering of all kinds and so many others. Those who are eager to acquire new, highly-qualified skills should be aware that Mauritius has become a vast land for the acquisition of diverse knowledge that is open to the global world, and that they will find here a multitude of offers conducive to their personal expansion. .
INCLUSION, THE ULTIMATE STEP TOWARDS A MODERN SOCIETY?
A modern, sustainable community is a peaceful community in which all members are considered in a caring way. This assertion could be a raison d’être for the principle of inclusion. From this point of view, the Beachcomber group had shown the way early on by asserting that the business world has a social responsibility towards people in precarious situations.
We are pleased to note that a number of major brands have adopted this mindset, which should now be widespread in Mauritius.
By 2024 Mauritius Telecom became the first company in Mauritius to join the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower initiative, taking up the cause of people with invisible disabilities.
MauritiusTelecomis therefore committed to providing support for people with invisible disabilities, such as autism, chronic illnesses and mental disorders, underlining the company’s commitment to promoting a working environment and customer experience based on empathy, active listening and support.
Over 70% of MT staff have received training in this area, which will also benefit their own colleagues with invisible disabilities.
The Mauritius Commercial Bank is not to be outdone. In the same year, the bank decided to modify its recruitment procedures, in recognition of the fact that the world of work is in a state of flux, and that its new players, notably “Generation Z”, have a new relationship with work.
Under the “or equivalent experience” principle, academic qualifications will no longer be the only criteria taken into account when recruiting people. They can be supplemented, or even replaced, by extensive professional experience.
In fact, in a rapidly changing world, employees without diplomas but who are experienced, flexible and adaptable are, for a company, of equivalent value to employees with academic qualifications!
As a result of this change, MCB is the first bank in Africa to obtain EQUAL SALARY certification!
2024 seems to be the year of inclusion, since last September Vivo Energy Mauritius launched its S-Mile(Special People going the Extra Mile) project to facilitate the recruitment of people with special needs at its Shell service stations.
The project was formalized with the signing of an agreement with the Special Education Needs Authority (SENA). Vivo Energy Mauritius plans to adapt its service stations with appropriate facilities to welcome its new recruits at the sites concerned. Vivo Energy Mauritius will work closely with specialized schools and institutions to provide appropriate training courses to enable each new employee to develop his or her skills.
Mauritius seems to be witnessing a powerful movement towards an inclusive society. Not that there haven’t been many fine initiatives on the island up to now, but the fact that the major players in the economic world are taking on the issue of inclusion seems to mark a major qualitative leap forward, heralding a real awareness of this collective responsibility.
