A LETTER TO THE HONOURABLE MINISTER OF TERTIARY EDUCATION: Courses in an unhygienic and uncomfortable environment

Dear Minister,
This correspondence is a means of showing our appreciation for the superb job you have been carrying out since being entrusted with the Ministry of Tertiary Education by the Honourable Prime Minister. We are sure you are reaching great heights in your present Ministry as was the case in previous ones. Memories of your passages in the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Commerce are timeless. Alas, the road to achievement is dotted with many tempting parking places.
 Allow us to express our gratitude to you for having welcomed our members in your office some six months ago. It was with great honour and enthusiasm that we acquiesced believing that we would obtain help from the Ministry for our institution. Indeed, we were promised that our concerns would be taken into consideration. A pledge was also made that your Ministry would sponsor equipment needed by students for a proper campus life. So many words for such meagre results. Nevertheless, we do know that you will live by your words sooner or rather later.
We feel proud that the University of Technology Mauritius is a self-sustained university. But we also believe that the government and more specifically your Ministry has a duty towards the tertiary students of our country. The fact that the UTM is allocated only Rs 4 million when Rs 870 million was allocated to tertiary education in the 2012 budget boggles us. This may be the way you perform your duty towards us however.
The UTM Students’ Union is sure that the Honourable Minister does know that some tertiary students are being directed to secondary schools for lectures. We do agree that more students are being given access to tertiary education but we did not know that tertiary education means following courses in classes dedicated to 12 year olds in an unhygienic and uncomfortable environment. You announced that a new campus will be constructed in your constituency. But no mention whatsoever was made that UTM will be allocated space there and definitely the construction is not due to end before another 2-3 years. What the students are asking is not decentralizing the university, but for a new campus which will become the pride of the student cohort.
Honourable Minister, rest assured that students of UTM feel grateful for all that you are not doing for the UTM. Also rest assured that the country shall attract more international students when those already studying here are following courses in secondary schools. And, we are sure that the Honourable Prime Minister acknowledges the fact that you have been performing much better than in previous ministries. However, you promised to build bridges where there is no river when you were entrusted the Ministry of Tertiary Education. The political circus being what it is, fame can easily be gleaned out of hollow announcements and promises. But, respect is derived from matching one’s words with actions.