Mauritius, Bihar schools to sign exchange programme

A Mauritian school will soon tie up with a school in Bihar for educational exchange programmes, an official said Sunday.

The Mauritian education minister has written a letter to Bihar Human Resource Development Minister P.K. Shahi, proposing the exchange programme, the official said.

In his letter, the minister said that Mauritius will celebrate the 111 birth anniversary of the father of the nation, Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam, on Sep 18 and the African island nation's government has decided to establish a close link between a school named after him with a school in Bihar.

Ramgoolam, whose ancestors hailed from Bihar, was the first prime minister of Mauritius from 1961 to 1982 after leading his country to independence from Britain.

The Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam government school of Mauritius and a basic school in Bihar's West Champaran district will sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Sep 15 for educational level exchange programme.

'The MOU will be signed between principal of the two school,' the official of Bihar's human resource development department said.

A life-size statue of Ramgoola was installed in Patna in 2007 to strengthen ties between the Bihar and Mauritus.

A large number of Bihar residents, known as the Girmitiya labourers, had travelled to various parts of the world, including Mauritius, in the 19th century to serve as indentured labourers in sugarcane and rubber plantations.

Source: Sify