Vasant Bunwaree
Encyclopedia
Vasant Kumar Bunwaree MP
(born वसन्त कुमर बुन्वरी on 7 April 1947) is currently the Minister of Education of Mauritius, having taken office since 13 September 2008 as minister in the Cabinet
of Navin Ramgoolam
. He has previously held the office of Minister of Finance from November 1996 to September 2000 and also Minister of Labour from 2005 to 2008.
After completing his secondary education at the Royal College Port Louis, he took charge as Principal of a private secondary institution in Rivière du Rempart, and taught at the same institution for two years. He trained as a doctor at the University of Bordeaux II, FRANCE and was appointed "Docteur en Medicine" in 1977. He later specialised and obtained the "Certificat d'Edudes spéciales en maladies cardiovasculaires" in 1981. He also hold diplomas in Tropical Medicine as well as Human Cytogenetics. In 1982 he joined government service as the first Specialist Cardiology of the Ministry of Health and was posted to Victoria Hospital, Mauritius. As Cardiologist, Dr. Bunwaree was responsible for the setting up of a full-fledged ICU and Diagnostic Cardiac Unit at the Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam National Hospital in view of starting permanent cardiac surgery centre in Mauritius.
Having served as the Vice President
and Secretary General of the Mauritian Labour Party
, Dr. Bunwaree has been elected Member of Parliament in 1987, 1991, 1995, 2005 and 2010. He is considered to be very close to the Prime Minister and is one of the few remaining labour ministers from the era when Dr. Navin Ramgoolam took leadership of the Labour Party. He has always been elected and serving for the Constituency No 12, Mahebourg and Plaine Magnien
. His tenure as minister has been characterised by numerous bold reforms and he presented new labour laws to the parliament which were voted as the Employment Rights Act (2008) and Employment Relations Act (2008). These novel reforms and legislation generated expected criticism by the trade unions similar to the current reforms being undertaken in the Education sector.
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(born वसन्त कुमर बुन्वरी on 7 April 1947) is currently the Minister of Education of Mauritius, having taken office since 13 September 2008 as minister in the Cabinet
Cabinet of Ministers of Mauritius
The Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Mauritius is the official council which advises the President of the Republic to take major decisions...
of Navin Ramgoolam
Navin Ramgoolam
Navinchandra Ramgoolam, GCSK, FRCP, MP is the Prime Minister of Mauritius, Minister of Defence, Home Affairs & External Communications, as well as Leader of the National Assembly. Being the leader of the Mauritian Labour Party, he serves as Member of parliament for constituency No...
. He has previously held the office of Minister of Finance from November 1996 to September 2000 and also Minister of Labour from 2005 to 2008.
After completing his secondary education at the Royal College Port Louis, he took charge as Principal of a private secondary institution in Rivière du Rempart, and taught at the same institution for two years. He trained as a doctor at the University of Bordeaux II, FRANCE and was appointed "Docteur en Medicine" in 1977. He later specialised and obtained the "Certificat d'Edudes spéciales en maladies cardiovasculaires" in 1981. He also hold diplomas in Tropical Medicine as well as Human Cytogenetics. In 1982 he joined government service as the first Specialist Cardiology of the Ministry of Health and was posted to Victoria Hospital, Mauritius. As Cardiologist, Dr. Bunwaree was responsible for the setting up of a full-fledged ICU and Diagnostic Cardiac Unit at the Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam National Hospital in view of starting permanent cardiac surgery centre in Mauritius.
Having served as the Vice President
Vice president
A vice president is an officer in government or business who is below a president in rank. The name comes from the Latin vice meaning 'in place of'. In some countries, the vice president is called the deputy president...
and Secretary General of the Mauritian Labour Party
Mauritian Labour Party
The Labour Party is a political party in Mauritius.The Mauritian Labour Party was structured in 1936 to model the British Labour Party and has similar socialist goals...
, Dr. Bunwaree has been elected Member of Parliament in 1987, 1991, 1995, 2005 and 2010. He is considered to be very close to the Prime Minister and is one of the few remaining labour ministers from the era when Dr. Navin Ramgoolam took leadership of the Labour Party. He has always been elected and serving for the Constituency No 12, Mahebourg and Plaine Magnien
Constituencies of Mauritius
Constituencies of Mauritius are the electoral boundaries of the Republic.The country follows the Westminster and elects 60 members of parliament for a run of 5 years .There are in all 21 constituencies in the Republic each of them returning 3 members with the exception of Constituency No 21 ,which...
. His tenure as minister has been characterised by numerous bold reforms and he presented new labour laws to the parliament which were voted as the Employment Rights Act (2008) and Employment Relations Act (2008). These novel reforms and legislation generated expected criticism by the trade unions similar to the current reforms being undertaken in the Education sector.