Pilot census exercise gets underway at Anse Aux Pins |19 November 2021

A four-day pilot population and household census exercise being conducted digitally got underway in the Anse Aux Pins district yesterday morning.

Being carried out digitally, all information and data are being stored in a tablet making it easier to process, with fewer errors and faster to complete the whole process which is a great advantage even though it is quite a costly investment.

Some 40 officials have received training to take part in the exercise which will go on until Sunday.

But for the national census proper early next year, between 450 to 500 officials will be mobilised for the national exercise which will take a week to complete.

Before the start of the exercise yesterday morning, the officials gathered at the Anse Aux Pins DA’s office to receive their tablets, badges, stickers and all the other items they will need for the exercise.

Helena Butler-Payet, the census commissioner, and other NBS officials ensured the tablets were properly issued.

Mrs Butler-Payet said such an exercise is conducted every 10 years but the last census was conducted here in 2010 and this delay is due to several factors namely budgetary constraints, the onslaught of the Covid-19 pandemic turning everything around which has caused the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and its partners to take some time to find ways to adapt.

“But now that we have been given permission to go ahead with the exercise, we are doing a lot of work to test our tools and everything else in preparation for the National Census in 2022. Like all big projects a lot of preparation is required and because we are investing a lot of resources in the exercise, we have to ensure that everything is in place and all the hiccups and glitches addressed and corrected ahead of the big exercise early next year,” Mrs Butler-Payet explained.

She noted that the four-day pilot census exercise being carried out in the Anse Aux Pins district only will allow them to test all their tools, manpower, all the necessary logistics and to know if the resources budgeted for the exercise are sufficient.

“We are collecting a wide range of information on the population itself as it is high time to update details related to our population such as the number of men, women, children, their age, living condition, education, employment and other social aspects of their lives,” Mrs Butler-Payet said.

But while the NBS gathers all these information mainly to assist the government and other stakeholders in planning projects and make informed decisions, Mrs Butler-Payet said they are also collecting specific information for key sectors like health, employment, social and transport.

“It is important that all services provided to the people are assessed to know if they are sufficient, to know what is lacking and how all these can be improved based on credible information and data,” Mrs Butler-Payet stated.

But why choose Anse Aux Pins for this pilot exercise? Mrs Butler-Payet explained that when testing yourself for a difficult and strenuous exercise you should not choose a smooth and easy terrain to practice on but instead you should give yourself a challenge.

“Anse Aux Pins offers a wide range of situations and challenges in terms of the socio-economic status of the inhabitants, access to services and their comfort to its topography which vary from the flat and coastal area where houses are not too close to each other to the mountainous and steep hilly terrains where there are more houses and some are closer together and in some parts they are scattered very far apart up the hills. With such diversity in terrain, it is best suited to test our logistics,” said Mrs Butler-Payet.

“Taking part in a census is a civic responsibility and a legal obligation for all citizens and people should cooperate and provide the information which is being asked of them to help in the smooth running of the exercise,” said Mrs Butler-Payet who noted that all the information received will be kept confidential.

Mrs Butler-Payet noted that the NBS is receiving the support of the

United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in this important exercise.

As a result, Dr Willis Odek, UNFPA’s strategic information specialist for the east and southern Africa region is in the country to oversee the exercise.

“The UNFPA is mandated to provide technical assistance to countries to conduct population and housing censuses. In Seychelles we have collaborated throughout the preparation for the census and this involved ensuring that the census data are comparable to data that are collected throughout the world for similar censuses.

We are also providing technical support especially around the use of modern technology for census data collection,” said Dr Odek.

He went on to note that censuses are very critical undertakings for any government and it is the largest data collecting endeavour any country can do. So from this particular exercise we expect to generate very useful data for national planning purposes.

“Apart from giving us the actual count of the population, we will also know the other characteristics of the population around such factors like the level of education, economic activities, gender distribution…which are crucial to development purposes,” he stated.

Meanwhile Mrs Butler-Payet is calling on all the inhabitants of Anse Aux Pins to give their full cooperation to the officials who will be visiting their household and to give truthful answers and to have the NIN cards of all the people who live in their household ready in order to help in the success of this important exercise.

The accompanying photos show some highlights of the exercise during its launch yesterday.

Text and photos by Marie-Anne Lepathy