Seychelles Institute of Technology-First batch of 600 students to enrol in August |18 July 2005

The director general for Technical and Further Education, Anne Lafortune, said the institution will enrol students who are currently following courses at the Anse Royale-based Industrial Training Centre (ITC) and those who are in the Seychelles Polytechnic Programme Area of Technical Studies.

She said the Department has decided to merge the two faculties to make maximum use of the excellent infrastructure and technology available at SIT that are ideal for technical training.

Jean Rassool, presently the director of the Seychelles Polytechnic, has been appointed as the new director of SIT.

Audrey Nanon, who currently occupies the post of assistant director of Studies at the Seychelles Polytechnic, will now head the institution.

Their appointments will take effect as of August 1.

Mrs Lafortune said SIT would be among one of the post-secondary institutions in the country to offer courses at Advanced Diploma level. It will take students who have completed Secondary Five (S5) and have a Certificate in Technical Studies and those who have completed their A’ Level studies but have not qualified for scholarships.

Besides Advanced Diploma courses which will run for one year, the SIT will offer courses at Certificate level, also of one-year duration, and two-year long courses at Diploma level.

Students with A’ Levels will be enrolled directly in the Diploma level, whereas S5 students will have the choice of repeating their Certificate level of studies or if they have done very well, they can opt for the Diploma level.

The courses to be offered will be in the fields of engineering and construction and will cover subjects like electronic, electrical, mechanic, among others.

Mr Rassool has announced that arrangements have already been made with the Seychelles Public Transport Corporation (SPTC) to transport the technical students to school.

He said SIT, envisioned as one of the key training players to produce skilled labour for the market, is in very capable hands as it will be run by a workforce of 80 well trained teachers and other staff and a management team comprising professionals with masters in the technical fields.