The Senior Chief Executive, Prime Minister’s Office
The Chief Commissioner of Rodrigues, Mr Serge Clair
Permanent Secretaries,
All Participants of the Programme,
Distinguished Guests
Ladies & Gentlemen,
Dear Students

It is with great pleasure that I am here this morning.  Pleased both as an individual and as the President of the Republic.

I must congratulate you to be here this morning, ready to participate in this exciting new programme.  This Pilot Project of the National Institute for Civic Education has brought together over 200 students and over 70 educators and youth leaders from all over Mauritius to reflect on our pride and responsibilities as Mauritians.  Over the next ten days, you will make new friends, add those new friends on facebook, and later, tweet about the exciting things that you are doing during the school holidays.  If I could go back to my high school days, NICE would be the programme that would make my holidays.  I wish I were in your seats right now.

But, other – equally exciting- duties await me at         Le Reduit and therefore, I hope to experience NICE through you.

Speaking of my duties as President, I congratulate the Prime Minister and his Office for launching such an innovative programme that will help build a new Mauritius.

The energy, the faith, the devotion which we will bring to this endeavour will light our country and all who serve it.

We have to build our future together.  This project is meant to empower you to do that.  To put it simply, our objectives are to:

• anchor core Mauritian values amongst the youth and engage them in meaningful activities for their positive development;
• inculcate a sense of national pride and unity;
• encourage social discipline and collective action; and
• reflect on our past and conceive a brighter future, with shared opportunities and responsibilities.

When I took office, I announced that my top priority as President would be to strengthen our national unity.  Today, I am very honoured to see that the National Institute for Civic Education has taken a big step towards that goal.

The future of a country is the youth.  Each of you present here, will one day, directly or indirectly, play an important role in shaping the future of Mauritius and sustain the economic and social development of our country.  Therefore, our duty, is to educate and empower you.  In 1936 on the occasion of the launching of the Indian Centenary book – SSR wrote and I Quote:

“the first and last object of life is Education.  Man has emancipated himself from the laws of jungle by education and experience.”  And he quotes Rushin as having said
“Education does not mean teaching people what they do not know.  It means teaching them to behave as they do not behave.  Education will fail unless it changes the substratum of life”

The goal of NICE is to prepare young Mauritians to carry out their roles as proud, responsible and engaged citizens.  To better shape the future, we have to understand the past.  And Mauritius has a very interesting history and I am sure that you will enjoy living our history through engaging activities planned for you under the theme ‘Country’.

The more you learn about Mauritius, the more you will appreciate our unity in diversity.  We are a nation of immigrants and ever since independence, different communities have come together to create the unified Mauritian society.  To help you better appreciate that, we have included the themes ‘Community’ and ‘Society’ in the programme of NICE.

As someone who had always been actively involved in politics, I can tell you that ultimately, it is the individual who is the centre of gravity of any community, society, and country.  Bearing that in mind, we have included the theme ‘individual’ to help you understand your duties and responsibilities as future citizens of Mauritius.

Dear Participants,

The journey doesn’t end with you, the individual; it actually begins with you.  After the four themes, you will be invited to experientially learn about the sectors that drive and sustain Mauritius.  It’ll be a great opportunity to put your ideas and education to action and learn about entrepreneurship, teamwork, management and all the other exciting new concepts that the different organizations, companies and institutions have to offer you.

Your journey at NICE ends with a residential seminar where you and your new friends will reflect on what defines Mauritius, what Mauritius holds dear and what you can do for Mauritius. 

And this reminds me of the famous speech that President John Fitzgerald Kennedy made on January the 20th 1961, where he stated and I quote:
“Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.”  Unquote

After that reflection, if each of you takes the pledge to be responsible citizens and start asking “what’s best for us?” instead of “what’s best for me?”, I will know that the future of our country is in safe hands.

I thank you for your attention.