A few days before the start of the new academic year for pre-primary, primary, secondary and tertiary institutions, students at Greenwich University in Ebene find themselves in an unenviable situation. The Mauritian branch of Greenwich University is on the verge of closing. Officially, nothing has been decided but unofficially, the decision has been taken. The contact is cut, the students do not know what to do. The authorities are not ready to give more details. This is to the detriment of several foreign students who have already paid for their studies.
A strange message in this period when Mauritius wants to become a host country for foreign students in the middle of a pandemic. We must recall that in the 2021 – 2022 budget, the Minister of Finance announced that he wanted to “Develop the knowledge industry”. Presumably, there are some 3,500 foreign students studying in Mauritius in 2020, in this perspective, he wants foreign students to consider Mauritius as a destination of first choice to study, work, invest and live.
These students are speaking in the open, Like Ragenra Shrestha, originally from Nepal, who does not know which way to turn since this announcement. He told us that he has been in Mauritius since 2017 and has already paid nearly 300,000 Mauritian rupees for his studies. He has been sending several emails to the university since June 15. Emails that have remained unanswered for the moment. His visa expires on June 30 of this year, and he does not know what to do. He went to the Pakistani High Commission to find a solution but was told that they cannot do anything at this point.
Since then, he has been struggling like hell knowing that his efforts may be in vain. He does not know what to do or which door to knock.
Like Ragenra Shrestha, there are more than thirty international students in the same situation. There are students from different countries such as Nepal, Pakistan, India, Comoros Islands, Nigeria, Cameroon. The university also has local students.
Neither Greenwich University Mauritius nor the Tertiary Education Commission would like to confirm or deny this decision for now. Although the authority is aware of the case, it prefers to wait a few more days before officially communicating on this case.
In the meantime, no one seems to be able to give some answers to these foreign students who are at a loss and wondering what to do.