144 business and visual arts students graduate |11 April 2014

• Petra Tamatave and Petra Richard win President’s Cup

Petra Tamatave and Petra Richard have been awarded the President’s Cup during the joint graduation ceremony for last year’s batch of students from the School of Business Studies & Accounting and the School of Visual Arts.

The graduation ceremony took place yesterday at the University of Seychelles’ (UniSey) auditorium at Anse Royale.

The 144 graduates received their certificate in the presence of Vice-President Danny Faure, Minister for Education Macsuzy Mondon, UniSey’s vice-chancellor Denys Hardy, leader of the opposition in the National Assembly David Pierre, members of the National Assembly Galen Bresson and Melval Dugasse, principal secretaries, chief executive of the Seychelles National Youth Council (SNYC) Vicky Van der Westhuizen, both school directors Josianne Bristol (business) and Christine Payet (visual arts), other guests and parents of the graduates.

Petra Tamatave from the School of Business Studies & Accounting and Petra Richard from the School of Visual Arts both won a Laptop and a trophy sponsored by President James Michel, cash prize sponsored by Vice-President Faure and this year the awardees won a scholarship sponsored by the Agency of the National Human Resource Development.

“Over the past two to three years these young graduates have acquired a variety of skills and have managed to broaden their knowledge and aptitude in Textile, Fashion, Graphic Design, Fine Art, Office Management & Administration and Business Studies and Accounting. At the School of Visual Arts, students following a programme at Diploma Level can also opt for the Cambridge GCE A-Level Art Exam if they want to pursue further studies in the Arts. The institution is happy to announce that in 2013 a total of 12 students sat for this exam and managed to achieve very good passes,” Mrs Bristol said while addressing the graduates and guests present.

“At the School of Business Studies & Accounting, the 2013 cohort is the first group to complete the three-year diploma programmes in Office Management and Administration and in Business Studies and Accounting. Furthermore, this group of graduates have successfully attained up to Level 3 certificates in various subjects with City and Guilds and Level 4 Diploma in Accounting with the Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) in UK,” she added.

Mrs Bristol also announced that both schools have made a big achievement in regards to validation and accreditation.
“Both institutions have obtained full validation for all their programmes. The validation process was a long and challenging one but our programmes have now been given a stamp of national recognition and are registered on the national qualifications framework. This means that the programmes of the two institutions are now more likely to receive the international recognition that they deserve,” she said.

She took the opportunity to congratulate the graduates and wished them luck in their journey ahead of them.
She also thanked the sponsors for their contributions and continuous support to both schools.

During the graduations ceremony the best performer from each course were also rewarded. They are: Jim Louise (Advanced certificate level in fine art); Safrryah Arissol (Advanced certificate level in Textile); Francisca Mousbe (Advanced certificate in Fashion); Dorette Cupidon (Office Management and Administration); Samia Delorie (Business Studies & Accounting); Jerina Jeanne (Office Management and Administration); Ramya Camille (Business Studies & Accounting); Maimuna Yusuf (AAT Shield); Natasha Jeanne (City & Guilds Shield); Mervin Thomas (A-Level GCE Cambridge Art Exam Shield).

Introduced this year by the SNYC is the SNYC most Improved Student Award and this award went to Kevin Dailoo from the School of Visual Arts and Justin Larsen from the School of Business Studies & Accounting.

Speaking to the press Ms Tamatave said: “Winning the President’s Cup is the result of my hard work and devotion that I put in my studies despite the other curricular activities that I devoted my time to.”

Ms Richard, who is also a national volleyball team player, said: “It was not a surprise for me to hear my name called for the award as I devoted my time to my studies even if there were times that I was away as I had overseas matches to take part in. When I came back I worked hard to catch up on the lessons I missed. And today my hard work has been rewarded.”

Both of their parents said they were proud and acknowledged that they deserve the accolade.
They both wish their daughters the best for the future.