Irish government, Shannon College extend support to allow ADHM students complete their Honours BBS degree in hotel management |23 February 2021

The Seychellois students who form part of the ninth ADHM cohort

The ninthcohort of the Advanced Diploma in Hospitality Management will complete their Honours BBS degree in Hotel Management online following support received from both the Irish government and Shannon College of Hotel Management.

The cohort, which comprises 10 students, was unable to travel to Shannon College in Ireland last September due to the Covid-19 pandemic and financial difficulties. In view of the long-standing partnership between the Seychelles Tourism Academy (STA) and the Shannon College, support was requested from the Irish government by Shannon College for the students to be able to complete their studies. As a result, a grant of R1,540,000 was received from the department of foreign affairs, Irish Aid division to part-fund the students’ tuition fees which amount to R2,333,000. The remaining balance of R793,000 will be covered by the Shannon College.

Following approval of the grant, the Irish Minister of State for International Development, Colm Brophy, T.D., Department of Foreign Affairs, Ireland stated: “We are conscious of the profound economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the Seychelles and other small island developing states which rely heavily on tourism revenues. Our support for this project aims to ensure that a new cadre of graduates has the skills to help the country’s recovery. It is part of a package of support for small island developing states, which also includes funding for the International Federation of the Red Cross in its work to combat the pandemic.”

On his part, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Tourism Sylvestre Radegonde expressed his appreciation to the Irish government for their support. “At a time when Seychelles is going through economic difficulties, it is encouraging to see that through our long-standing bilateral relations, the Irish government has readily offered to help us with the training of our students.”

It should be noted that Ireland has historically provided support to Seychelles in the field of education. Many years back a group of Irish nuns came to Seychelles to help educate the country’s children. The last nun of this programme, Sister Dominic, recently passed away. It is therefore no surprise that Ireland would again come to Seychelles’ assistance, in this very difficult time.

Preparations are well underway to ensure the students have top class internet access as most classes will be delivered live from Shannon College, providing the opportunity for the students to interact with their Irish and international classmates. They will be full-time students of the university with access to all library and online materials and student support. However, given that semester one is well advanced, the students have started semester two online in January 2021 and semester one for them will begin in September.

Head of the Advanced Diploma in Hospitality Management (ADHM) programme, Ursula Esparon, who is also a graduate of Shannon College, has stated that this assistance from the Irish government has come at a particularly good time. Her team is ready to help this special cohort who will, for the first time since this project has started, be completing their Bachelor in Business Studies in International Hotel Management in Seychelles.

The ninth cohort has expressed that they almost lost hope as they watched lockdowns happening globally. They would like to thank the Irish government, their teachers, their representatives from Shannon College, the Agency for National Human Resource Development (ANHRD), the department of tourism and Flavien Joubert for standing by them during these difficult times, and to ensure that they complete what they have started. They still hope that the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic will slow down and that, with the help of vaccines and safety regulations, they will have a chance to travel to Shannon College in Ireland and to go through all the wonderful experience that their colleagues before them have gained in Ireland. With their renewed hope, their class motto ‘We got this’ is more important now as they want to seize all opportunities that come their way to complete their Bachelor’s degree.

It should be noted that Shannon College of Hotel Management, NUI Galway has been involved in delivering its four-year, Level 8, BBS, Honours degree in International Hotel Management at the Seychelles Tourism Academy (STA) for the last 10 years.

Press release from the Seychelles Tourism Academy