St Andrew's College Wins the National Learn–AI Innovation Challenge 2025
St Andrew's College has secured first place in the inaugural National Learn–Artificial Intelligence (AI) Innovation Challenge, receiving accolades during an award ceremony held on Monday, December 15, 2025, at the Mahatma Gandhi Institute in Moka. The President of the Republic of Mauritius, Dharam Gokhool, was in attendance.
The London College came in second, followed by Mootoocoomaren Sungeelee State Secondary School in third place. Queen Elizabeth College ranked fourth, while St Joseph’s College took fifth place.
The ceremony was attended by Mauritius' Vice President Jean Yvan Robert Hungley, the Minister of Social Integration, Social Security and National Solidarity, Kugan Parapen, Senior Vice President of Dayforce, Vidia Mooneegan, General Director of DoraCrea, Vasenden Dorasami, President of Mauritius Telecom, Sarat Lallah, along with other dignitaries.
An initiative by Dayforce, DoraCrea, and Mauritius Telecom, in collaboration with the President's Office, the Ministry of Education and Human Resources, and the Ministry of Information Technology, Communication, and Innovation, the competition aimed to engage Lower Six (Grade 12) students in technology and empower them to propose AI-based solutions to national challenges. A total of 69 secondary schools from Mauritius participated, submitting 94 innovative projects.
In his speech, the President congratulated the students for the quality and impact of their projects, emphasizing their creativity, imagination, and potential. He pointed out that the future will be shaped by artificial intelligence, grounded in strong ethical values and human integration, with the youth at the forefront of the Mauritian economy.
Recalling the origins of the challenge, Dharam Gokhool highlighted that the initiative aims to prepare the youth to embrace technological change with courage, responsibility, integrity, and foresight. He noted that the challenge tested the youth's ability to use AI responsibly, creatively, and meaningfully to tackle real national issues, yielding unequivocal results.
The President added that the students demonstrated that transformation is not confined to boardrooms or policymakers but can be ethically guided through effective partnerships across the public, private, and civil sectors. He encouraged students to continue using technology to design, build, and innovate, leveraging their imagination and resilience to address real-life challenges across all sectors.
For his part, Vidia Mooneegan praised the students for their innovative ideas and stressed the importance of leveraging artificial intelligence to transform Mauritius into a solution-driven nation. He called on stakeholders to support and further develop the presented ideas, highlighting that the youth have the potential to position Mauritius as a digital hub in the region.