Education minister on official visit to Belgium |17 November 2021

Minister Valentin with representatives of Thomas More and Ambassador Beryl Samson

The Minister for Education Dr Justin Valentin made an official visit to Belgium over the weekend.

The purpose of the visit was to further discuss study venues and collaboration opportunities with Thomas More University.

On Sunday November 14, the minister held a meeting at the Seychelles embassy with representatives from Thomas More University and met two Seychellois students – one studying at Thomas More and the other at the ‘Katholieke Universiteit’ (KU Leuven).

Additionally, the minister held discussions with the Seychelles ambassador to the Kingdom of Belgium and the European Union, Beryl Samson, regarding other potential areas of collaboration with universities in Belgium.

The discussion with Thomas More centred on collaboration with the University of Seychelles (UniSey). This relationship and interaction was initiated in 2019 by Ambassador Samson and the minister himself, who was then the vice-chancellor of UniSey.

Thomas More is being considered as a potential venue for study, especially for undergraduate students. Earlier this year, two students were sent to the university to take up studies in business management and media and communication.

Furthermore, the business manager of Thomas More was in Seychelles last week and held discussions on Saturday November 6 with Minister Valentin; the chief executive of the Agency for National Human Resource Development (ANHRD). Nadia Lauricourt; and the vice-chancellor of the UniSey, Joelle Perreau.