First ‘Pencil Case Project’ exceeds target |20 January 2023
Sir Asanka and Anil Antoine of Perseverance secondary school accepts the donation from Mrs Herminie on behalf of all secondary schools
208 students from primary and secondary schools to benefit
The Seychelles Revenue Commission (SRC) has stepped forward to enhance community partnership by offering a significant donation to the Ministry of Education under a project dubbed ‘The Pencil Case Project’.
Initiated few months ago by the SRC’s Audit team, it is aimed towards improving education in the country, standing by the motto ‘No Child should be left behind’.
As part of ‘The Pencil Case Project’, SRC staff have to raise a total of 200 pencil cases to gift to a group of students across the country.
Although the organisation is renowned for actively contributing towards the community through various projects as part of its annual donation, this year it decided to make it a little more special by coming up with an activity that impacts the children directly.
The campaign for the project spanned over three months and it has exceeded its target as a total of 208 complete pencil cases were collected. 100 of the pencil cases will be going to primary students and 108 will be for secondary students. In each of these pencil cases are stationery such as pen, pencil, calculators etc, and it is expected to be distributed on Monday of next week.
The official handover ceremony was held yesterday morning at the headquarters of the Ministry of Education, in the presence of the principal secretary (PS) for Education Services, Merna Eulentin, SRC’s Commissioner General, Veronique Herminie, and a fellow sponsor, Nishantha Adikari. It was witnessed by representatives and students from different schools from both primary and secondary, as well as the School for Advanced Level Studies (Sals).
When addressing the guests, SRC’s senior Tax Auditor, Betyna Denis, said they believe children are special and they deserve the very best.
She thanked her colleagues from the Audit department for their work and the thoughtful initiative.
“We are happy that besides working towards the goal, we have also made wonderful memories in the process, and as a result we built a stronger bond among us co-workers,” she said.
It should be noted that individuals, families and organisations contributed towards this noble cause.
The donation on behalf of all primary schools was accepted by Lisa D’Offay, a teacher from Bel Ombre primary and student Mathea Charlot, whereas Sir Asanka, a teacher from Perseverance secondary school, and Anil Antoine, a student from the same school, accepted the donation on behalf of all secondary school.
In her vote of thanks, PS Eulentin thanked the SRC for its generous initiative and said the ministry is very appreciative of its work.
“We thank you and we accept these donations with a pure and open heart and we hope that maybe other organisations can follow in your footsteps,” she said.
The event ended with a special song by the name ‘Zanfan Lanmour, Zanfan Bondye’ performed by the SRC staff.
Diane Larame
Photos by Emma Ah-Kong
