AGM

Notes of Meeting of the 17th Annual General Meeting of the English-Speaking Union held at the British Council, Rose-Hill on Monday 4th July 2011 at 15:45 hrs.

 

In the Chair  :            Ms Sharmilla Bhima, President

                                    Mr Rajen Gangoosingh, Secretary

                                    Mrs Yajna Ghurburrun, Treasurer

                                    Mrs Anne-Marie Ahkine, Executive Assistant

There were 24 members present.

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The President, Ms Sharmilla Bhima, welcomed all members present and apologized for starting the meeting late.

 

1.     Approval of Minutes of the 16th A.G.M.

 

A copy of the minutes had been circulated to members.  Proposed by Mr Prem Burton, CSK, and seconded by Mr Nunkoo, OSK, the Minutes were approved.

 

2.     Report of the President for the Year 2010 – 2011

 

The President read a comprehensive report of all activities carried out during the past year.

 

She placed on record a momentous occasion in the history of the ESU namely, the elevation of a member of the ESU, Mrs Monique Oh-San Bellepeau, GOSK, to the rank of Vice-President of the Republic of Mauritius.  Further, a member of our Executive Committee, Mr Prem Burton was decorated by the President of the Republic for his long contribution to secondary education and was awarded the rank of CSK.

 

2.1     Constitution of a renewed executive committee as at 4/7/11

 

President                                           Mr Mohamad A. Vayid, GOSK, CMG

Vice-President                                  Prof. Jagadish Manrakhan, GOSK

Vice-President                                  Mr  Prem Burton, CSK

Vice-President                                  Mrs Marie-France Roussety

Secretary                                            Mr Rajen Gangoosingh

Assistant Secretary                          Mr Parmanand Nunkoo , OSK

Treasurer                                           Mrs Yajna Ghurburrun

Assistant Treasurer                         Mr Rajendra Korlapu-Bungaree

New Member                                     Mr Philip Li Chin Hum

2.2     Annual Dinner

 

Our 13th Annual dinner was held on Friday 30th July 2010 at La Canelle Restaurant, Domaine les Pailles. As for the past years, the ESU was privileged and honoured that His Excellency, the Rt Hon Sir Anerood Jugnauth, President of the Republic of Mauritius, and Lady Sarojni Jugnauth had agreed to be our Chief Guests.

 

At the 13th Annual Dinner, the ESU was also privileged to welcome H.E. Mrs Mary-Jo Wills, Ambassador of the United States of America & Mr Wills Sr., Mr R. Guttee, who represented and read the message of the Minister of Arts and Culture and Mr John Botley, Chief Financial Officer of HSBC Mauritius, & Mrs Botley.

 

Our 13th Annual Dinner was marked by the launch of a website dedicated to ESU Mauritius and  the speech of Advik Goorah, winner of the National Public Speaking Competition 2010 and one of the six finalists of the IPSC 2010.

 

The 14th Annual Dinner of the ESU will be held on Friday 22nd July 2011 at 19:00 hours at La Bonne Marmite Restaurant, Port Louis.  Members have been invited to join us on this occasion.

 

2.3     Public Speaking Competition 2011

 

The competition attracted a total of 89 participants from 64 schools from Mauritius and Rodrigues. The winner in Rodrigues, Ms Madeleine Marianne of Le Chou College flew to Mauritius to join the 8 Mauritian finalists to compete for the finals held on Wednesday 23 March 2011 at the Town Hall of Curepipe.

 

The ESU was delighted to welcome The Hon. M. Choonee, Minister of Arts & Culture, at the Finals.  Hon. M. Choonee is the first minister to attend the Finals of our Public Speaking Competition.

 

The main sponsor for the National Public Speaking Competition 2011 was the HSBC Mauritius and HSBC Global Education Trust.  The British Council donated gifts to the Finalists.   Air Mauritius offered a rebate of 50% on the costs of the air ticket to London for our National winner.

 

Our national winner, Shaun Dean Emmanuel Payen, again from College du St Esprit, represented Mauritius at the IPSC held in London from 23 – 27 May 2011.

 

2.4 National Spelling Bee Competition  2011

 

Participation in the competition rose to 540 participants for Mauritius and to 69 in Rodrigues.  The Finals in Mauritius were held on 1st June 2011 at the Municipal Council of Curepipe.  A separate competition was held at Le Chou College, in Rodrigues, on 16th June 2011.

 

As for the previous years, the US Embassy have donated prizes to all finalists in Mauritius and to all participants in Rodrigues.  The MCB offered cash prizes to winners in Mauritius and in Rodrigues, and they also offered a T-shirt to all the finalists in Mauritius and to all participants in Rodrigues.

 

Donations from Reinsurance Solutions and the Currimjee Foundation contributed to the running costs of the competition in Mauritius.

 

The Commission for Education (Rodrigues Regional Assembly) paid for the return air tickets and accommodation of two representatives of the ESU who attended the competition in Rodrigues.

 

2.5 The Young Commonwealth Competition (Essay) run by the Royal Commonwealth Society

 

The Essay competition attracted 91 entrants from Mauritius, out of whom 22 received awards which comprised of 14 bronze awards, 7 silver awards and 1 gold award.  A prize giving ceremony was held in December 2010 at Barclays House in Ebène.   Barclays donated cash vouchers to the winners and ESU offered books to the winners.

 

2.6    Esu and Globe Cultural Seminar for Teachers

 

Mrs Anitah Aujayeb of Gaetan Raynal SSS was the recipient of the 2010 Globe Cultural Seminar run by the ESU in London.   Mrs Aujayeb published an article entitled  “A memorable Experience”, in the daily l’Express which tells about her participation.

 

For the year 2011, five teachers were nominated for this scholarship.  The beneficiary, Mr Kevin Pather, was chosen by ESU London.

 

2.7 The International Relations Conference 2010

 

ESU Mauritius was not represented at the International Relations Conference as there was no expression of interest.

 

2.8 President’s fund for Creative Writing

 

The President’s Fund for Creative Writing is now open to all languages.  Mr Rajen Gangoosingh, Secretary, represents the ESU on this committee.

 

2.9 The E-Teacher Scholarship Program offered by the US Embassy in collaboration with the ESU

 

For the third consecutive years, the ESU has nominated five teachers for the on-line graduate level classes organised by the US Department of State in collaboration with the prestigious American universities of Oregon and Maryland.

 

Mr Sivananda Vencatapillay of MGSS Nouvelle France is the recipient of a full scholarship and is currently in the US for curriculum development and to improve the quality of his teaching.

 

3.0  The Bicentenary arrival of the British in mauritius

 

The ESU organized an essay and drawing competition which attracted a total of 162 essays and 105 drawings.  In this same context, ESU organized a talk by Mr David Snoxell, former British High Commissioner in Mauritius, attended by some 50 ESU members.

 

The President thanked Mrs Day-Hookoomsing for having chaired the Sub-Committee meeting and for having ensured that the events were a success.  She also thanked Mr Mohammad Vayid, Vice-President, for finding a Sponsor for the prizes.

 

3.1  English in action – Conversational classes in English

 

In April 2011, the ESU ran the “English in Action” programme, which provided conversational classes to a group of persons living in the vicinity of Bel Ombre. The programme, sponsored by Bel Ombre Foundation, helped to improve the participants’ confidence and level of fluency in English.  It was successfully conducted by Mr Barlen Vyapoory, Executive Member of the ESU.

 

 

3.2   Support from ESU membrs

 

This year, 10 ESU members joined our existing panel of jury to help us in our activities.  Furthermore, several members helped to mark the essays and drawings that were received for the competition organized in the context of the bicentenary arrival of the British.

 

3.3  Membership

 

There are 207 compliant members, as follows:

 

 

 

3.4 Website – office equipment – furniture – office

 

A website dedicated to ESU-Mauritius was launched during our Annual Dinner in July 2010.   The Office is now equipped with ADSL, thus both our Executive Assistant and Office Clerk are now access to internet.  Courts (Mauritius) has donated a new set of computer and a new desk and chair.   British Council has made a donation of a second-hand office desk and chairs which will allow us to conduct sub-committee meeting at our new offices.  The ESU has now moved into a more spacious area on the 6th Floor of Ken Lee building.

 

3.  Accounts of the ESU for the year 2010

 

Mrs Yajna Ghurburrun presented the accounts for the year 2010 which showed a deficit of MUR 33,902.

Proposed by Mr Vayid and seconded by Prof Manrakhan, the accounts were adopted.

 

4.     A.O.B.

 

The President conveyed our gratitude to the British Council for having readily made available their premises throughout the years for meetings of our Executive Committee and for our AGM.  She extended our thanks to the Ministry of Arts & Culture and to Mrs Patricia Day-Hookoomsing for having also made their premises available for our meetings.

 

 

The President thanked all members present and expressed her best wishes to all.

 

The meeting ended at 16:50.

 

 

 

 

 

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Secretary                                                               Chairman

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