Whirlwind educational tour ‘fruitful,’ says minister |28 July 2004

The minister returned last Thursday from the trip, which started on July 6 and included visits to England, France and the Caribbean island nations of St Lucia and Cuba.

The first leg of the journey saw the minister in Manchester, where he attended the graduation ceremony for 12 Seychellois students who made up the first group to complete the joint Manchester University-Seychelles Polytechnic twinning programme, in which students complete their first year of university at home in Seychelles.

Minister Faure said he reached an agreement with the university that will see the continuation of the programme for the next five years.

From Manchester the minister travelled to the Caribbean, responding to a reciprocal invitation from St Lucia following a diplomatic visit from the small island nation to Seychelles last year. Education officials there, he said, inquired about assistance from Seychelles on developing both early education policies and a uniform secondary education system.

Minister Faure said they were also interested in developing a programme to teach Creole – also the common tongue of St Lucia – in schools, as well as an initiative similar to the Aspiration process to get the opinions of young people in the country.

In Cuba, the minister said, he was assured that the government would continue to provide scholarships to Seychellois despite the economic difficulties of the Caribbean country. Minister Faure attributed the pledge to the close ties of the two countries.

Currently 19 Seychellois are studying in Cuba, with a particular concentration in physical education and engineering.

The minister also said that Cuba would be assisting Seychelles in developing additional special education programmes for students with disabilities. He said Cuba has been commended by Unesco for having an exemplary special education programme, and that with their assistance Seychelles’ own School for the Exceptional Child could be taken “to the next level.”

On the tail end of the journey, Minister Faure said he met in Paris with the director for Unesco’s educational arm – the International Institute of Education Planning – to discuss having the institute carry out one of its country-based evaluations.

An expert from the institute is expected to come to Seychelles to facilitate the education assessment of the country, which could lead to improvements in the system.

“There will be a lot of benefits from the work the institute will do in Seychelles,” he said.