Futures of Higher Education: Towards a Culture of Lifelong Learning in Higher Education in Mauritius Through Blended Learning Strategies

Higher education is the engine for transforming our societies. We are living in a world with uncertainties and overwhelming challenges revealing to us the vulnerability of Higher Education, in particular, the COVID-19 pandemic. As most Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Mauritius shifted to emergency remote learning, issues related to inequality, pedagogical challenges posed by online teaching as well as how best to harness the available technology surfaced. How to deal with those issues? How could the higher education system in Mauritius be better prepared to adopt a technology-enabled learning (TEL) strategy successfully that promotes lifelong learning? Addressing these issues requires a multifaceted approach. As the regulator for the Higher Education sector in Mauritius, the Higher Education Commission (HEC), the regulatory body for Higher Education in Mauritius, assessed the readiness of HEIs to embrace TEL in 2020. Not all HEIs had the technological capability or trained personnel to be able to deliver their programmes online effectively and efficiently. The HEC committed to creating a balanced and successful learning strategy in line with the Higher Education Act 2017 and came up with a comprehensive framework aiming at transforming Higher Education. Facilitated through blended learning strategies, the HEC’s innovative Framework for lifelong learning comprises elements at both macro and micro levels. This chapter highlights the development of blended learning strategies designed to facilitate HEIs in the seamless transition to online teaching and learning. Technology-enabled learning strategies were developed to help HEIs navigate this transition and provide quality service to students. The HEC, in collaboration with the Commonwealth of Learning (COL), entered into an agreement to implement TEL in selected HEIs. This initiative involves research, consultation, capacity building, monitoring, and evaluation. Furthermore, a collaborative scheme between the HEC, the Ministry of Education, Tertiary Education and Scientific Research, and COL introduced 3,000 scholarships under the skills for work programme. These scholarships aimed to benefit Mauritian learners through eLearning platforms such as Coursera and Udemy. From 2021 to 2023, approximately 3,300 Mauritian learners participated in this innovative experience, gaining access to a digitalized platform and benefiting from over 5,500 micro-credentials. Expanding these initiatives is anticipated to empower Higher Education Institutions in Mauritius, in collaboration with regulatory bodies, to establish a transformative higher education system. This has the potential impact to prioritize skilling, reskilling, and upskilling, building a culture for lifelong learning and enhancing the island’s national competitiveness.