By: Enoch Sithole
The University of Mauritius’ Communication Studies Unit is ramping up its working relationship with the country’s business sector to bridge the gap between its graduates’ educational qualifications and work readiness.
The Unit’s Senior Lecturer in media and communication, Christina Chan-Meetoo, told Ajenda that the effort towards a closer relationship with the business sector is, among others, meant to address usual concerns from the industry that graduates are often not ready for the workplace.
However, she said these concerns “will never stop”, but the university is using several approaches, including internships in newsrooms and communication agencies to expose students to the workplace environment during their training to improve their work readiness.
“It should also be understood that university education aims to give students a broader knowledge of the world in a particular field, rather than teaching them narrow skills for a particular job,” she argued. The complaints from industry will “never be resolved but we need the flexibility to meet in between”.
Indeed, the Unit’s website suggests a broader approach: “The mission of the Unit is to promote knowledge and appreciation of the media and communication sphere so as to understand how it integrates within the social, economic, political and cultural landscape. It provides opportunities to students to acquire knowledge, skills and competence in:
- Culture, media and globalisation
- Media law and its derivatives, journalism and reporting skills
- New information and communication techniques
- Research methods in media and communication.”
Founded in the 1990s to offer a certificate in journalism and business communication, the Unit has since grown to provide other subjects such as digital media, economics, and political journalism leading to a Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree. Chan-Meetoo added that the course incorporates theoretical and practical learning.
Journalism and communication are offered at the University of Mauritius and a few other universities in the small island nation of approximately 1.3 million inhabitants.
Given the small size of the media industry in the country, which means only a few graduates can be employed in the profession, some journalism graduates find jobs in other sectors such as non-governmental organisations, communication agencies and research entities, among others. There is also a trend where journalism graduates work in the newsroom for a few years and then leave for the strategic communications sector.
The Unit is working hard to ensure that its teachings reflect Mauritian and African realities, moving away from the traditional ways of only following French and Western journalism values, said Chan-Meetoo. This can be seen in areas such as teaching journalists to write stories in the Creole language – which is the most spoken in the country. Traditionally, French and, to a lesser extent, English would dominate in the media as well as in journalism education.
“The Unit also encourages students to undertake practical projects and research that tackle Mauritian and African issues”, said Chan-Meetoo.
This article, “University of Mauritius, bridging the gap between academic qualifications and work skills” and was originally published by the Ajen newsletter on October 8 2024.