The talk of the town in Mauritius at this moment (apart from the various scandals) is the concept of the Smart City, which is nicely explained by this infographics available on the Board of Investment website. A Smart City and, by extension, a Smart Mauritius, has to have:
- A Smart Environment where people can practice Smart Living (in other words, respect nature and live with less stress)
- Smart Mobility (use the car only when needed and maximise public transportation and bicycles like in most occidental cities)
- Smart Citizens who have been educated through Smart Education
- A Smart Government (which is not only preoccupied with the next elections but rather the development and advancement of the country as a whole)
- Smart Businesses (which can develop new products and enter new markets by innovating)
- Smart Infrastructure (which can sustain and satisfy future demands)
- and Smart Utility (so that the country does not suffer from brownouts or droughts in the future)
Naturally, it is not smart to believe that we can transform our country into a Smart Country just by bringing in some consultants and praying that building some morcellements and roads will suffice. The key to making Mauritius a Smart Mauritius is the population of the country.
Our education system needs to be drastically changed so that anyone who finishes schools (at any level: primary, secondary or tertiary) is a Smart Person:
A Smart Person as shown above (courtesy of an infographics by the Huffington Post) is:
- Intelligent
- Brilliant
- Knowledgeable
- Intellectual
- Competent
- Innovative
- Confident
- Professional
- and a bit Arrogant too (or is that Self-Belief?)
Personally, I am sure that our education system can be revamped to produce such Smart People provided we better use (in the good sense of the phrase) Smart Lecturers, Smart Teachers and Smart Educators, foreigners or not. In my opinion, there are a number of excellent educators in the country but we need to supplement them with excellent educators from abroad (like Singapore did in fact a decade ago).
Students need to be Smart Students too. They need to focus more on Knowledge, Skills and the Joy of Learning instead of going to tuition, passing exams and obtaining a certificate.
Focusing on STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) is also mandatory. The Smart World is a technological world and a country like Mauritius cannot afford not to have Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths professionals of sufficient caliber.
[Thanks to Sachin to bring art and culture to my attention: Developing the artistic talents and culture of the population, especially young people, is mandatory too. Like all humanists, I really think that everyone has the capacity to do wonderful things provided (1) she discovers and develops her talent and (2) she is given the possibility / opportunity to contribute, disrupt and bring much-needed changes.]
Is that too much to ask? What do you think?
Hi Avinash,
I agree with the whole concept of a Smart Island though it looks as far-fetched as the so-called Cyber Island Mauritius wanted to become.
Why ? Let’s take the example of sustainable development. Yes, the country aims at becoming Smart on that but the change must really come from the people. Educating is one thing but changing the mentality needs a big overhaul. Parents have to be educated to this so that they can support their own children in driving such a project to success.
Focussing on STEM subjects is to me a biassed idea. The BOI presentation does point the need to invest in arts and culture. We should stress on the fact that culture doesn’t relate to religion but to the tools that an individual needs to build that individuality that makes him/her unique among others. Arts, culture or humanities in general are those things that are created and shared among humans (we listen to music created by others or read books that are fed with the imagination and inspiration of millions of persons). Inventions of the future, technological revolution, changes in social relationships, habitat, changes in education are all subject to cultural tools.
STEM subjects rely on human tools to be able to go forward. What if a human being never dreamt of a technological machine that would become a computer? On this site you show that you are proud of being a musician and having an eye on your own world (Flickr). All these use technological tools but define you as an individual. Technology is but a vector to culture. Your own perusals on noulakaz and now on this site are fine examples.
Mauritius cannot afford not to have high caliber and forward thinking professionals to move forward as a Smart country. To be able to do that, STEM subjects and Humanities must be mandatory.
By the way, congrats for this new blog. I am looking forward to more articles.
Thanks for this first ever comment, Sachin 🙂
You are 100% right. Developing the artistic talents of the population is mandatory too. Like you, I am a humanist: I really think that human beings have a great capacity to do wonderful things but, of course, they need to develop their talents and, of course, have the possibility/means to bring changes. I’ll update the post to reflect this important point.
Great projet, but achieving this in this ‘type of Mauritius’ is very challenging dude, but this insipires people surely.
That’s the important point. Achieving a Smart Mauritius will need all of us to become Smarter and collaborating (and, hopefully, having fun in the process).
It’s a question of change which society is not ready for unfortunately. For e.g my car met with an accident and my insurance has been beating around the bush for three weeks. I had to email the CEO of the company and after 2 hours, I get a call that the following week my car can go for repairs.
The driver’s license still folds in three lol.
The mentality needs to change. This will take time but let’s not despair. Look for instance how kids, who have been told at school that cigarettes are bad, pester their dads not to smoke. And I know a lot of dads who have quit smoking because of their kids. So there is hope if things start with kids. We need to make kids smarter for the whole population to become smarter…
Personally, I am very much in favour of creating a local “C’est pas sorcier”-style programme (on TV and YouTube) in Kréol (and French and English if needed) to explain science, art and culture to kids. One important feature would be to interview / showcase local talents as role models (hence the importance of using Kréol so that anyone doing great things can be in the programme) and, hopefully, this can inspire (young) people to greatness.
What do you think?
Am In for the c’est pas sorcier stuff..
http://www.howwemadeitinafrica.com/beyond-lagos-and-nairobi-seven-african-cities-of-opportunity/45823/
Yep, looks like it’s going to happen soon, especially the energy sector: http://www.lexpress.mu/article/265089/joel-rosnay-ex-conseiller-premier-ministre-maurice-besoin-dune-nouvelle-generation
Hi,
I believe we are missing one key fundamental here. Values and Civic Education. The reason our successive Governments(all of them) failed lamentably and focus only on winning the next elections and filling their pockets is because they are a reflection of the people that vote for them. “The people get the government it deserves” – George Bernard Shaw. And the Mauritian people have been trained for decades to focus solely on material gain, to become rich, which for most mauritians is the synonym of success at whatever cost it may be. It is no coincidence that students focus solely on passing exams and getting certificates. That is what they have been taught to do. If Mauritius is to change for the better and follow the model of Singapore, the first thing is to adopt the right Civic values which do include a culture of hard work as well.
Arvind
Thanks Arvind for your insightful comment about the need to instill Values and Civic Education in our minds. I agree that this is something fundamental to look in. I’ll add that Values and Civic Education should be instilled first and foremost by parents, and then by teachers.
Unfortunately, a lot of parents are not equipped or do not have time to instill those values. How do you think we can solve this pressing issue?