Professor Vic Rayward-Smith, of the University of East Anglia, UK, talks of the services offered by his campus and gives his opinion on degree subject choices which will no doubt interest students in search of the right university course.

¦ Professor Vic Rayward-Smith, you are here from the University of East Anglia to talk about Actuarial Science to our students. Why make the trip all the way from East Anglia to talk about a subject that is likely to attract very few of them?

The idea that it attracts very few students is wrong. We get more actuarial science students from Mauritius than any other overseas country in the world. In our class this year, we have six Mauritian students out of a total of 40.

¦ Why do you think there’s such an interest in a small island like ours?

I think basically in a country like yours where there is a strong financial service sector, it makes sense to do actuarial science. It would also make sense to do mathematics. I mean, I have talked to a number of students who have said to me that the reason they are doing actuarial science is that they love mathematics. My response to them is, “Then why not do mathematics?” The answer which comes back is, “If I had a mathematics degree, I don’t know what I would do in five years living in Mauritius.”

¦ Is the fear of not finding a job justified?

I don’t know about Mauritius but Mathematics opens doors everywhere. It opens doors in the financial sector as well as in Engineering.

¦ So why is there less interest in pure mathematics?

Well, it is true that Actuarial Science opens doors everywhere in the commercial area. Even if you don’t become an actuary, which admittedly is very very hard, there are plenty of job opportunities.

¦ What is so hard about becoming an actuary?

To become a fully qualified actuary, you have to pass professional exams. The failure rate for these exams is about 50 percent per exam. And, to be qualified, you need to pass 13 of them! However, if you go to university and you choose the university intelligently, you can get exemptions from quite lot of these exams.

¦ You still need to do five, with a failure rate of 50 percent, don’t you?

Yes, but most students struggle with the early ones. Once you have put those under your belt…

¦ The other fi ve are easier…

No, not really. (Laughter).

¦ How many students do you attract by telling them, ‘Come and do actuarial science and your chances of failing are 50 percent’?

I’m not saying our failure rate is 50 percent. If you take the exams directly with a professional body, the failure rate is about 50 percent.

¦ And if you go through a university?

Well, it depends upon the university and it’s a very good question to ask any university, “What is your failure rate?”

¦ What is your failure rate?

(Long silence)

¦ For a mathematician you are taking a long time…

Yes, because I’m working it out! Some students fail in the first year. Some students fail in the second year. But we have had no students failing in the last year. So I would think that about 30 percent will not complete their studies in actuarial science. They will transfer to another degree.

¦ Another degree, like statistics?

Well, we have this degree in business statistics. That is a popular option that we have. It’s a very respectable and demanding academic course. And there are lots more jobs in it. An actuary tends to be the leader of a team, very often in a multinational. A lot of the people in his team will be business statisticians. So for every actuary there are probably half-a-dozen jobs in business statistics.

¦ The job of an actuary has changed over the years hasn’t it?

Yes, previously, actuaries would work in the basement of the building, doing difficult sums, and would not be allowed to see the light of day. They tended to be rather nerdy people. (Laughter) Today, they have to get their results understood by people who don’t have the mathematical skills. Therefore, they have to have presentation skills, people skills and they have to run a team so they have to have leadership skills. Companies can no longer afford to employ actuaries just to do difficult sums. They can employ other people for that.

¦ How do our students fare in actuarial science?

Well.

¦ Very well?

Very well! My top students in the final year are Mauritian. Mauritian students are generally bright and they have a work ethic. They are also quite personable and decent. You don’t have the societal problems that some countries have. Of course, those that I see are the ones with an A* in mathematics.

¦ And how many of those are you hoping to attract this time?

I hope to take six certainly. It wouldn’t worry me if it were eight or even ten. What worries me is that there are not enough students doing mathematics. Pure or even applied mathematics. They’re not applying for that.

¦ You think they should?

Yes! Last year I came and sat in a fair for about two days and I had just one person come up to me and ask about mathematics. I think we’ve got one Mauritian doing mathematics, that’s a reflection of how Mauritian students are applying. Mauritian students tend to apply for economics, business subjects and actuarial science. Hardly anybody goes for mathematics. Fewer still for computer science.

¦ What do you do for students who want to go to your university but can’t afford it?

We don’t take them.

¦ As simple as that? Don’t you give scholarships?

We do, but they’re quite modest.

¦ How modest?

Yes. Last year I was able to give 3000 pounds off for very good students. This year I’m allowed to offer 2000 pounds a year off to exceptionally good students. But they have to pass the interview. And that has little to do with academic results. I have failed a student who got 3 A*s!

¦ Why?

When I pushed her for answers she just replied that that wasn’t in the curriculum. It’s difficult to teach people like that, and she just wouldn’t survive as an actuary in the modern world. That’s why we interview people. We require 3 good A levels and to pass the interview. It’s possible to have 3 As and fail the interview.

¦ Now I know you’re not a spokesman for the U.K, but the impression we have sitting here, and you must have heard this from other people, is that the UK is doing everything to discourage foreign students. The fees have become exorbitant.

They’re not exorbitant. That’s how much it costs to educate a student in the UK. The current home fees for an ordinary UK student are about £9000 a year. For overseas students it’s something like £11 000. That’s what it costs. No university is there to make money. We’re not businesses. Our job is to break even. It’s to give the best possible service to our students and break even.

¦ But if our students can’t afford you anymore, they will go to other countries.

(Laughter) Then they will not get the service they get from our country. Seriously, even in the UK, there are universities who would try to offer an education for less money. Well, that is what they are spending. No university makes a profit. What would we do with a profit?

¦ Well, perhaps your lecturers and professors are over-paid? Perhaps you are over-paid?

(Loud laughter) If only! The average salary for a lecturer is about £50 000. That’s all and I don’t think there are many professors earning £100 000. Yet for actuaries, for example, that’s common. Another reason for your students to enroll for that!

Touria PRAYAG
(L’express Weekly)