President reassures students left in university limbo |11 November 2020

The meeting in progress (Photo: Jude Morel)

Seychellois students forced to delay their undergraduate degrees this year, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, have been reassured of the government’s commitment to send them off for their overseas studies as soon as possible.

The 50-odd youths received this reassurance yesterday from President Wavel Ramkalawan in a meeting aimed at addressing the students’ concerns on their upcoming studies.

Also present were Vice-President Ahmed Afif, Minister for Education Dr Justin Valentin, principal secretary for tertiary education and human resource development Dr Linda Barallon and chief executive of the Agency of National Human Resource Development (ANHRD).

With the world faced with an unprecedented health and economic crisis, students who had qualified for a government scholarship were earlier this year informed that their studies in foreign universities would be deferred to 2021.

This group includes A-Level students that have acquired 18 points or more in their exams, best performers in professional centres and awardees of the President’s Cup.

President Ramkalawan noted that he would prefer that students start their higher education studies promptly so as to avoid a break in the chain, where Seychelles will see no or few university graduates in certain fields for a year.

“The issue of your scholarships has been of utmost importance for me – I had discussed it in the National Assembly and it remains a priority of mine,” said President Ramkalawan.

“The reason why I am so invested in this is that if we miss this year, there will be a year in four, five years – and in the case of medical studies eight years later – where we will not have a Seychellois graduating. There will be something missing in that chain because of that one year and personally I do not want to see the break in the chain,” explained the president.

“I would like to see Seychellois receiving their degrees every year. I want doctors, engineers, lawyers and other professions of your choice.”

President Ramkalawan called on the students to also look into taking up the 20 fully-funded scholarships currently being offered by the United Arab Emirates (UAE). These scholarships are available for top Seychellois students who want to undertake their degree in universities in the Gulf country.

The government is also in negotiations with other countries, through their embassies, to gain additional scholarships for Seychellois students and exploring other modes of learning.

Discussed in the meeting were placements of students in areas of their interests instead of as supply teachers prior to their studies, increase of allowances, and better communication between students and ANHRD.

Many students took the opportunity to explain their state of limbo – some had deferred to the September 2021 university intakes, those heading to Malaysia were expected to start in March and some had been compelled to decline their university offers.

Students enrolling in universities in the UK are in a particular bind since the coronavirus has hit the European country hard, with a sharp rise in cases recorded since September.

Others from professional centres addressed the challenges with going from an advanced diploma or diploma straight on to a university degree.

Following the meeting, President Ramkalawan noted that he was happy with students’ inputs, adding that the constraints put forward are “real concerns and we will take these concerns into consideration”.

Yesterday’s meeting will allow the government to take decisions based on what the students are actually going through, the president also highlighted.

Elsie Pointe