154 Journal of Education and Vocational Research Vol. 5, No. 4, pp. 154-164, December 2014 (ISSN 2221-2590) Low Cost Tertiary Education: The Price to Pay for Knowledge-Business Hub-The Mauritius Transitional Education Case Study Rajendra Parsad GUNPUTH University of Mauritius, Mauritius rpgunput@uom.ac.mu Abstract: Most United Kingdom (UK) universities are franchising fast with foreign universities affording low cost tertiary education. Most students and graduates in Mauritius have their degree and other awards from local, Indian or British universities. However, in the recent couple of years UK universities are franchising more and more with local institutions (University of Mauritius and University of Technology Mauritius) with large campuses on the small island of the Republic of Mauritius. Of both French (1715-1810) and British colonisation (1810-1968) until its independence in 1968 the young Republic of Mauritius (12 March 1992) is one of the leading countries in Africa where secondary education is free with a relative weaker fee to enter in tertiary institutions like the University of Mauritius. In a contextualised approach the study that shall follow explain the actual situation transition education in Mauritius where local students are less and less reluctant to go to the UK to have a degree. In return UK universities instead are mushrooming around the island attracting local students who cannot afford to pay high cost tertiary education in countries like the USA, France or the UK. Actually, UK universities are recruiting local academics to lecture on their programmes in Mauritius for local students who despite their high profile cannot afford to pay the fees in the USA or UK. UK universities are also sending their staff to lecture in Mauritius and local students have the same award they would receive in the UK. Indeed, the research reflects to what extent students are willing to remain in Mauritius to avoid obstacles and harassment they would probably face in the UK or the USA in terms of visas, accommodation, job facilities just to name a few. But there is still a cost to pay. Key words: Transitional education, franchising, globalisation, competitiveness, Mauritius I. Introduction In a contextualised approach, this article deals with management of first class tertiary education at a relatively low cost and it can be achieved by allowing overseas educational and training institutions to settle in the country but there is a cost to pay. Actually, Mauritius is experiencing a new sort of higher education: overseas institutions (from UK principally)are franchising their programmes at low cost without, however, having in return any written exam or efficient quality control in their post graduate programmes but in return local students have a degree and some training. Prevention is better than cure they say but because of its good reputation; good political stability, free and fair elections, respect of human rights; on the African continent and in the Indian Ocean it is not denied that Mauritius is a centre of excellence with its free education for one and all at primary and secondary levels with a symbolic fee at tertiary level. It explains once more the policy of the Mauritian government to give all students access to education, and second Mauritius remains a Welfare State with free health services, transport facilities and good quality of life and social security. With time, more and more foreign institutions are tempted to settle in the country and actually they are mushrooming on the island attracting more and more scholars, foreign experts, local students, and even overseas students. Overseas institutions take the lion’s shares when they are affiliated to local private institutions (infra) but their local partners are also making large profit but there is another cost to pay in terms of quality and quality control. Whatsoever, the problem of the local government is elsewhere. Its main objective is that the country shall be a centre, at any cost, for a ‘knowledge hub’ on the African continent provided in the long run there would be at least one degree holder in each and every family. The other side of the picture is that there are issues related to unemployment and degree holders who are remunerated for a job for which they deserve more. Furthermore, most tertiary institutions are issuing the same degree but the