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Good practice Imported

National Learn-AI.School Innovation Challenge — Mauritius Turns Grade 12 Students into AI Problem-Solvers

Mauritius · Port Louis · See the Mauritius profile · See the Port Louis profile

Evidence: Descriptive / self-reported Top 63% 47/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Mauritius's Office of the President and Ministry of Education run an annual AI challenge for Grade 12 students: the 2025 pilot drew 700+ students from 69 schools submitting 94 AI projects; 2026 winners, including a Rodrigues school, earned Mauritius Telecom AI internships.

700+ people
Students/educators participating in the 2025 pilot (2025)
69 schools
Secondary schools participating (2025) (2025)
94 projects
AI-enabled projects submitted (2025) (2025)
15 schools
Schools receiving the Mauritius Telecom AI internship (2026)
National Learn-AI.School Innovation Challenge — Mauritius Turns Grade 12 Students into AI Problem-Solvers

Details

Maturity
Scaling
Promoter
Office of the President of Mauritius, Ministry of Education and Human Resources, Ministry of Information Technology, Communication and Innovation, with Mauritius Telecom, Dayforce and DoraCrea
Period
2025 (pilot) - 2026 (2nd edition, ongoing)
Keywords
AI literacy, secondary education, public-private partnership, ICT skills

Context

The National Learn-AI.School Innovation Challenge is a Mauritian secondary-school programme run by the Office of the President with the Ministry of Education and Human Resources and the Ministry of Information Technology, Communication and Innovation, with private partners Mauritius Telecom, Dayforce and DoraCrea. It asks Lower Six (Grade 12) students to use AI tools to design solutions for national challenges such as sustainable agriculture, public safety, inclusive classrooms and responsive public services.

Activities

The 2025 pilot edition brought together more than 700 students and educators from 69 secondary schools, who submitted 94 AI-enabled projects. The 2026 second edition judged winners including Sodnac SSS and London College, with runners-up including a Special Jury Award for André Lélio Roussety Songes College on the remote outer island of Rodrigues.

Results

As a direct follow-on, Mauritius Telecom ran a two-week paid AI internship for students and teachers from the top 15 participating schools, with certificates awarded on 31 July 2026.

Conclusions

No standardised, independently verified pre/post learning-outcome assessment has been published for the challenge; the public evidence is participation counts, named winning projects and the resulting industry internship placements.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Low (< €50k) — No specific budget figure is reported for the challenge itself; the follow-on Mauritius Telecom internship is a two-week paid placement for students/teachers from the top 15 schools.
Time to results
Short (< 1 year) — Annual challenge; 2025 pilot edition, 2026 second edition, with internship certificates awarded 31 July 2026.
Staffing & skills
Office of the President of Mauritius and two ministries (Education and Human Resources; Information Technology, Communication and Innovation) run the challenge, Private partners Mauritius Telecom, Dayforce and DoraCrea co-support it, Mauritius Telecom separately delivers a two-week paid AI internship for top-15 school students and teachers

Conditions for success

  • National challenge format tied to real public-policy problem areas (agriculture, safety, inclusion, public services)
  • Direct industry follow-on (paid internship) for top-performing schools, linking the challenge to real career pathways
  • Explicit outreach to a remote outer-island school (Rodrigues), extending beyond the capital/mainland

Common failure modes

  • No standardised pre/post learning-outcome assessment has been published
  • Benefits beyond the challenge itself (e.g. the internship) currently reach only the top 15 of 69+ participating schools

Where it fits

Governance type
head-of-state office plus two government ministries in partnership with private telecom/tech companies
Scale
700+ students across 69 schools nationally in the 2025 pilot
Income level
upper-middle-income

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes

Indicative funding routes for practices of this type — always check each programme's current calls and eligibility rules.

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

Attachments

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