IECDGlobalcaregoery11CentreforEarlyChidhood2019 New IECD headquarters to be built at Ile Du Port |05 December 2019
(L to r) Capt. Savy, Minister Simeon and Mrs Choppy during the press conference
A new institute with all advanced facilities related to Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) including a resource centre and a child minding service will be built next year at Ile Du Port.
This is in line with the institute being accredited as Unesco’s Global Category II for Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) as the world will be counting on Seychelles for knowledge and best practices in child development, care and education.
It was the board chairman of the Institute of Early Childhood Development (IECD), Captain David Savy, who made the announcement in the presence of the Minister for Education and Human Resource Development, Jeanne Simeon and the chief executive of IECD, Shirley Choppy, during a press conference held at the minister’s conference room yesterday morning.
The accreditation under the Unesco auspices allows the institute, now turning into an international centre, to provide leadership, coordination and strategic direction on a regional and international level.
It follows from much hard work and resources invested by Seychelles in early childhood development since its participation in the Unesco world conference on ECCE in 2011 where from a fragmented ECCE system it has gone to one which is resilient, holistic thus receiving distinction globally.
As a Global Category II centre, the institute is to provide global intellectual and operational leadership as well as capacity building for Unesco member states to advance the development of ECCE.
Also in its mandate, the institute will among others, lead global intellectual dialogue on the importance of ECCE, provide operational guidance, lead policy dialogue and exchanges on ECCE, as well as promote the strengthening of ECCE systems across Unesco member states.
The prestigious accolade was bestowed upon the Republic of Seychelles through IECD following unanimous agreement by member states of the Unesco on November 15, 2019 at the 40th session of the Unesco general conference held at its headquarters, New York. The accreditation is over and above the recognition of the IECD as the IBE-Unesco Best Practice Hub for ECCE received in 2017.
Among the 200 countries holding this Global Category II accreditation, for Seychelles it is the first for the region and Africa.
Speaking on the new centre, Captain Savy said that with the institute being recognised as an ECCE international centre, work has already started to turn it into an international level through formalizing the funding for the start of the construction of the new international institute with all advanced facilities related to ECCE and which will also include a resource centre and a child minding service.
Captain Savy noted that by having the new centre, more local human resources and capital will be developed to assist in providing training and sharing of knowledge on our ECCE system to other countries in the region and the rest of the world.
He said that with our generation plunged into social ills, the best way to spare the next generation from this anti social way of life is to invest in the proper care, development and education of children especially those from zero to 3 years old as research has shown that during that age, children grasp the correct attitudes and correct guidelines towards learning.
As the parent ministry, Minister Simeon said that the accreditation of IECD as a Unesco Global Category II for Early Childhood Care and Education is a great honour for Seychelles and her ministry which shows how we have worked hard to reach the high level in early childhood in just a small length of time from 2017 when we were then recognised as a regional ECCE hub.
Minister Simeon said that with work being done by IECD to oversee the proper care, development and education of very young children, she hopes for a better generation of children for the ministry to guide for further and higher education, thus a better generation free from drugs, alcohol and other anti-social behaviour.
On her part, Mrs Choppy said that the successes of the institute in all its endeavours are based on the many researches done before polices and strategies are formulated for implementation.
She noted that IECD as the regulatory body based its policies and strategies on standard and excellence thus insisting on the two elements from stakeholders especially from the child minders and day care centre operators.
She further said that the institute will continue to evaluate its policies and strategies in place so as to meet with the different challenges that still exists. Some of the challenges that need to be addressed is to raise the level and quality of service of childminders, infant mortality, anti-social behaviour related to drugs and alcohol, parenting, reviewing of outdated programmes and policies and capacity building for stakeholders among others.
President Danny Faure, who spearheaded the ECCE initiative in 2010, expressed his congratulations and appreciation to the IECD team, its partners and the Unesco governing bodies for believing in Seychelles.
The IECD was established in 2013 as the regulator for childminding services in Seychelles. It oversees developmental phases from 0-8 years of age. It serves as the coordinating, advisory, advocacy and regulatory body for early childhood development.
The government of Seychelles and Unesco will sign an MoU to concretise the accreditation where also in the agreement Unesco will support the institute with technical assistance as needed by providing experts in ECCE and engaging in staff exchanges and working on joint activities and projects.
It is be noted that Minister Simeon was accompanied at the 40th Session of the Unesco general conference in November by Seychelles’ ambassador in France Sylvestre Radegonde, the secretary general of the Seychelles National Commission for Unesco Marie-Reine Hoareau and Mrs Choppy as the chief executive of IECD.
As quoted from IECD, its mission is to provide leadership in Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) and to ensure, through collaboration with all other partners, the coordinated implementation of policies and programmes in order to improve the quality and the accessibility of early childhood care and education so that every child develops holistically, has positive learning experiences, and builds a strong foundation for success in school and everyday life.
Patrick Joubert