Teachers Council of Seychelles officially launched |18 January 2023
Minister Valentin flanked by members of the Board during the press conference yesterday
• Registration of teachers to start on January 24, 2023
In order to promote and regulate the teaching profession, the Teachers Council of Seychelles (TCS), in accordance with the Education Regulation 2021, is now officially launched. Registration of teachers will start on January 24, 2023.
This was announced by the Minister for Education, Dr Justin Valentin, in a press conference held yesterday at the Ministry of Education headquarters. It was the Minister for Education who was responsible to appoint the members of the Board in March 2022 and the members are Yasmin Umarji (chairperson), Andy Esparon (vice-chairperson), Fabien Palmyre (member), Bergitta Labonte (member), Shivkrishnasingh Ramruchaya (member) and Mavis Lespoir (member). Inesse Oredy is the registrar of the council.
“Our goal today is to help not only the teachers but also the population on this new council. The TCS is a new concept in Seychelles, although it exists in other parts of the world. We encourage the teachers to come and register with the council and see how it will benefit them,” explained the minister.
Minister Valentin further explained that “in some cases, teaching is a job when someone does not find a job somewhere else. This has had a severe impact on the quality of education. We want to regulate this situation in order to register teachers in Seychelles who meet the legal requirements. It is also to promote teaching as a profession and establish and maintain codes of conduct and ethics for teachers. With the Council, we will have proper standards for all teachers to follow and the Council will also have a budget. At the end of the day, together with the teachers, the Council will change the image of the teaching profession”.
What will the TCS do?
The chairperson of the Council, Mrs Umarji, said the TCS will maintain an up-to-date register of teachers, support the development and publicity of the professional standards for teachers and take into consideration the best interests of children in its decision-making.
“In 2022, we had eight board meetings and we had to understand the functions of the Board and functions of the Council. We worked on the vision, mission and strategic goals and regulations had to be reviewed and slight adjustments suggested which will be discussed with the cabinet of ministers soon.”
Mrs Umarji also shared that they learned from the Nursing Registrar and the CEO of IECD. “As a regulatory body, we have to be fair and we have to abide by the criteria and work for the best interest of all children. Our mission is that every child has access to high quality teaching and learning.”
The strategic goals
Mrs Oredy spoke about the strategic goals and noted that the Council has three strategic goals: 1) An effective and fair regulatory body that applies risk assessment in its decision-making and taking; 2) Every teacher working in an educational establishment setting to be registered and 3) Promote teaching as a reliable and sustainable profession.
The Council will produce and disseminate the Board’s regulatory approach, develop an annual risk strategy and implement. For the second goal, the Council will develop and implement a registration framework by establishing procedures and criteria for the registration of teachers and the renewal process, produce relevant documentation and databases and keep the ministry informed of the profile of the teaching profession on an annual basis. They will also develop the registration of teachers using the latest technology and design principles to ensure satisfactory customer experience.
For the last goal, the Council will work with relevant stakeholders to establish and maintain a code of ethics for teachers.
“We will also provide advice and guidance on the creation of a Career Progression Framework ranging from the induction stage to executive leadership. We will also conduct and communicate research on matters concerning the teaching profession.
In 2022, the registrar, Mrs Oredy, visited the schools and worked with the management. “My role was to ensure that all teachers in Seychelles understand the function of the Council and get registered. All trained teachers will receive a certificate whereas the ones not yet trained but in the system for years will receive a certificate and have five years to get trained. The other function is to promote teaching as a profession.”
Currently the teaching staff is composed of 486 (26%) male and 1389 (74%) female – similar balance in both the state and private schools. 22% unqualified practitioners in the state schools compared to 6% in the private sector. 82% of the state schools teachers are Seychellois and 18% are non-Seychellois; 4% of the teaching workforce is above 60+ in the state schools compared to 9% in the private sector.
The Council together with the Ministry of Education will work and discuss on a plan for a programme of ‘Recognition of prior learning” for all who do not have teacher’s training. A suitability check will also be done to ensure the children are safe.
Mr Esparon also launched the website of the Council and the Facebook page. On the website, basic information will be available on the registered teachers.
Minister Valentin invites all teachers engaged or to be engaged as teachers in an educational institution (public or private) under the Act, shall be registered and issued with a certificate of registration or provisional registration.
Currently Seychelles has 1875 teachers working in the state and private schools – 1651 in the state schools and 224 in the private schools.
Vidya Gappy