Plans under way to revamp and modernise UniSey |26 September 2023

(L to r) Mrs Pejakovic, Vice-Chancellor Perreau and Ms Chang-ko during the press conference

The Seychelles Infrastructure Agency (SIA) is seeking the expertise of a qualified consultant or consultancy firm to undertake consultancy services for the development of the University of Seychelles (UniSey) Anse Royale campus master plan which will also cater for accommodation facilities.

The expression of interest (EOI) document containing the background and objective of the consultancy, the terms of reference, submission requirement qualification criteria and evaluation criteria can be collected at Independence House, 2nd Floor, Victoria, Mahé from 9am to 3pm. The deadline for the  submission of responses to the agency is Monday, October 2, 2023 at 3pm.

No submissions will be accepted after the set deadline.

Only the applicants meeting the qualification criteria shall be shortlisted and the bid document will be subsequently issued to the shortlisted applicants only.

In an interview with the media at the campus yesterday afternoon, the vice-chancellor of UniSey, Joëlle Perreau, said that the time has come for the UniSey building, which is around 40 years old, to be redeveloped and modernised to cater for the UniSey which envisages to offer better and more advanced services and programmes and a more conducive learning environment to local and foreign students.

UniSey has for 14 years been occupying the building which was formerly the Seychelles Polytechnic. The building was built in 1983 through Chinese government cooperation. There is an urgent need to revamp the campus, which is not in a fit state to attract students, both local and international.

Also present during the interview were the director for Education and Socio-Economic Research Institute (ESERI) and head of Campus Development Project, Christine Pejakovic and the director of Marketing and Communications, Dolivette Chang-ko.

The master plan vision is to reflect a vibrant higher education campus for the national university at the heart of Anse Royale, incorporating eco-tourism and cultural characteristics, the development of high-quality teaching and learning facilities which reflect creative academic, research and industry partnerships while the campus being also environmentally sustainable in its undertakings and activities.

“For the time being, the building is not fit for the purpose. The building leaks in many areas which are affecting labs and classrooms including offices in the administration block. We want to have a campus which is vibrant in terms of showing the value of our Seychellois identity and also the provision of more space to encourage education and research for Seychelles and the region. To do that we have to add some specialised areas not available at the moment,” said Vice-Chancellor Perreau, who noted that the development project will be done in total respect for the surrounding environment.

The re-development plan includes the realisation of a state-of-the-art teaching and learning and ancillary facilities that include IT Laboratories, classrooms, accommodation for up to 50 students (local and foreign, international staff and visiting researchers), administration block, centre for professional development, commercial buildings, conference centre and business hub, engineering block with labs, journalism studio with photography workshop, language learning centre and lab, lecture theatre,  learning resource centre, maintenance block for facilities, performing arts/dance studio, post graduate centre, psychology laboratory, centre to house the research institutes, ‘Science Park’ area, student hub, student leisure and recreational areas, wellness centre and sports science facilities.

Mrs Pejakovic said given the state-of-the-art teaching and learning and ancillary facilities aspects for the development of UniSey, the tender process also provides for local registered firms, without in house expertise, to team up together or with others internationally to deliver the master plan to the expected level.

“A university, in a sense, is a specialised domain in the way it is conceptualised with specific needs such as specialised labs, areas for black box innovations, areas for language, culture and art and psychology studies, including space for a very specialised and modern university among others, and it will be up to the consultant or group of consultants to show us that they can conceptualise a master plan on that level for Seychelles,” said Mrs Pejakovic, who noted that the bidding process will be done in a transparent manner.

UniSey has been sharing campus buildings with the Seychelles Business Studies Academy (SBSA) since 2009. Noting that SBSA has been allocated an alternative site for its own new campus, Vice-Chancellor Perreau said that with SBSA to proceed to its own site, UniSey can now go ahead with its campus re-development plans for which construction is expected to start in 2024 if all goes according to plan.

She added that the UniSey Mont Fleuri campus catering for IT labs and journalism courses will remain as is for the moment with further development to come in future plans.

She said that apart from helping to bring the education system to a higher level, the development of UniSey will also bring in revenue for the country given the many foreign students and researchers who will frequent the university.

Text & photo by Patrick Joubert