VCS Group of Companies donates R500,000 worth of paper to the Ministry of Education and private schools |29 October 2016
As part of its 25th Anniversary celebration and ongoing Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) efforts, the VCS Group of Companies has made a donation of 11,000 reams of A4 paper, worth R500,000 to the Ministry of Education and private schools in Seychelles, namely, Independent School, International School Seychelles (ISS), Ecole Francaise des Seychelles and the Montessori Pre-School.
The donation was made in the presence of officials from the ministry and schools, as well as management of the VCS Group of Companies in a handover ceremony yesterday at the Autoland Complex in the Providence Industrial Estate.
In his speech, Gilbert Lebon, managing director for the VCS Group, highlighted that “it is our group policy to contribute a large portion of our CSR tax to education for it is only by investing in the youths of today that we will able to safeguard the future economic growth and prosperity of our country. This year, our company celebrates 25 years of service in Seychelles and we are proud of our accomplishments in the community.”
It is worthwhile mentioning that the VCS Group has also made numerous donations worth millions of rupees to many ministries, sporting associations, individuals and NGOs during the past 25 years. During the past few years, the Ministry of Education has also benefited in the form of computers, textbooks, paper, maps and other educational materials from the VCS Group.
Upon receiving the donation, Raymond Coralie, procurement manager from the ministry stated: “We have yet again received a generous donation from the VCS Group of Companies that will enable all the state schools in the country to benefit and on behalf of the government, we want to express our sincere thanks and appreciation to the group for such a noble act and for its continued support in helping out the children of Seychelles.”
All the private schools present also expressed their appreciation and gratitude for the donation in their respective thank you speech. For her part, Jane Loveday, administration and finance manager for the Independent School, said that the paper will be put to good use and that “it is with donations such as this one from the VCS Group of Companies that we are able to make a savings that is then reinvested in the school for the benefit of our primary and secondary students”.
Janice Houareau, primary section manager from International School Seychelles added that “for us, this donation is invaluable because paper is a primary tool that we use every day to enable our students to develop their skills and creativity”.
Similarly, Rose-Marie Arcambal, coordinator for the Secondary Section from Ecole Francaise, highlighted that “any school requires a paper stock on a daily basis because whatever knowledge we teach our students or creativity that they wish to express has to then be transferred onto paper and you can just imagine how the stock diminishes … so for us, this donation is as good as gold!”
In concluding, Lucy Talbot-Ponsonby, director of the Montessori Pre-School said that “even as a pre-school, we still use a considerable amount of paper on a monthly basis and it goes without saying that the generosity of the VCS Group will be a big help over the coming months”.
Caption:
A souvenir photograph after the hand-over ceremony