SITE to be modernised to face teaching and learning realities of the 21st century |28 September 2021
The Seychelles Institute of Teacher Education (SITE) will have to be transformed and modernisedto face teaching realities of the 21st century and to lure the younger generation into the teaching profession.
The Minister for Education, Dr Justin Valentin, made the statement to the press following a visit to the institution yesterday morning.
The visit is a continuation of a series of familiarisation visits he is conducting to educational institutions.
He also said that SITE will be the institution that will have to accompany him in his plan and strategy to transform education in the country.
“My principal objective this morning is to initiate a conversation with this institution because I fully believe that SITE, as a teacher training institution, should be that institution which ultimately accompanies me in my journey to transform the education system in this country,” the minister said.
Minister Valentin stated that the ministry and SITE will be working on ways to attract teachers, making the schools more appealing to students and also in getting the younger generation to choose teaching as a profession.
He added that the institution has the qualified resources to carry out studies on education that would further help to develop a curriculum for students of the 21st century and where also, the teachers can get a fair deal.
He added that the institution will have to be given a new facelift and be enhanced with the use of technology for better learning and to attract young people to join the teaching profession.
Minister Valentin was accompanied on the visit by the principal secretary for Education Services, Odile Decomarmond; the principal secretary for Education Sector Development, John Lesperance; and other high officials from the head office.
They were met on arrival by SITE director Rosianna Jules, board chairperson Georges Tirant, deputy Mavis Lespoir and other management staff.
The ministerial delegation was guided on a tour of the offices, classrooms including the library, auditorium and cafeteria, before sitting down with the board, management and learners representatives for a meeting.
During the visit, the minister and his delegation got to interact with the staff and students of the institution.
Minister Valentin called on the population to encourage the younger generation to join the teaching profession as they will be needed to replace the older teachers in the profession.
He also called on teachers to, when they deliver, do it in a way that would attract the youths to the profession.
Ms Jules said that the visit by and dialogue with the minister and his delegation were very important in view of the institution’s important role in the ministry’s new strategic plan with regard to training of teachers in line with the transformation of education in the country.
She stated that the institution’s main challenge is the recruitment of academic students for diploma courses and also to get more boys to join the teaching profession.
She noted that the recruitment of lecturers is also another challenge faced by the institute.
“A lot of people in high positions today started off as teachers and this shows you how far one can get by just being a teacher. But to be a teacher also, you have to have passion for teaching. If you don’t have passion for the job you will not make a career out of it. I will encourage any young people with passion for teaching to join the profession as they will not regret it,” Mr Jules said.
Due to the pandemic, students are having physical classes twice a week at the institute while they get to attend the lessons virtually on the remaining days.
SITE offers courses in Advance, Diploma and Advance Diploma certificates for teachers at the level of day care centres, early childhood, primary and secondary schools, and post-secondary institutions. It has twenty-seven teaching staff and three supported staff for the 184 full-time students and 120 in-service part-time students.
SITE was established in January 2014 with a mission to inspire, educate and prepare teachers, education leaders and related professionals, who are dedicated to improving students’ achievements and education quality. Through excellence in teacher education, educational leadership, research and continuing professional development, it is committed to advancing exemplary practices and 21st century competencies, and promoting the culture of lifelong learning.
The accompanying photographs show the minister and his delegation touring the institute and interacting with staff and students.
Patrick Joubert
Photos contributed
