IECD celebrates 10th anniversary |27 February 2023
In commemoration of its 10th anniversary, the Institute of Early Childhood Development (IECD) held a special event at the Eden Bleu Hotel on Eden Island on Friday evening to celebrate its success and to reward its longest-serving staff, partners and founding members for their invaluable contribution and unwavering support over the past decade.
Present at the auspicious occasion were the First Lady, Linda Ramkalawan; ministers; principal secretaries; the chairman of the IECD board, Captain David Savy; chief executive Shirley Choppy; other high officials and guests.
The IECD was established in January 2013 with a vision to see Seychellois children up to the age of eight years enjoy quality early care and education through the shared commitment of all partners.
The role of IECD throughout the past decade has multiplied from providing leadership and coordination in early childhood care and education to also becoming the regulator of childminding services.
In the past ten years, IECD has recorded many successes in various areas such as legal, policy, quality assurance, programmatic and research, advocacy and partnerships, monitoring and evaluation among others.
The biggest achievement to date is the Institute’s designation as a Category 2 Centre for ECCE, under the auspices of Unesco in 2019.
With regard to capacity building of Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) personnel, the institute has developed a basic initial training and continuous professional development programme, as a pre-licensing requirement, and trained over 300 service providers.
In addition, it has jointly developed a Certificate Course in Child Care and Development with the Seychelles Institute for Teacher Education (SITE) and the Seychelles Qualification Authority (SQA) which was delivered through the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) process. It is the first ever formal, recognised and award-bearing training programme for early childhood personnel, working with young children in the 0-3 years bracket, from which the first cohort of 26 registered childminders graduated last year.
In terms of financial support, IECD has assisted over 150 home-based childminders to set up their businesses, registered over 100 childminders, managed financial assistance for registered childcare services caring for over 2500 children in the 0-3 age group, and other subsidies for over 100 registered childminders.
To extend the institute’s regulatory powers under the auspices of Unesco, in December 2022 President Wavel Ramkalawan assented to the Early Childhood Development Act 2022 based on a more modern criteria and obligations set forth under the Unesco Agreement, specifically those relating to the Unesco Category 2 Centres for ECCE.
In his opening address, Captain Savy, who gave an overview of the success of IECD, said that amid the successes there were challenges and despite those challenges, the institution was able to make great strides in its 10-year existence as a small organisation, thanks to the support of government, past and present, the staff and benefactors.
He noted that while IECD is now operating with a workforce of 17 staff members and with the new status and mandate, it is committed to investing in new generations of talented staff and celebrating fruitful long-term relationships with its valued clients and benefactors.
“At IECD, it's all about the young children, their holistic development and laying a solid foundation for nation building. Our vision for ECCE is to reach the highest level, as shown by our designation as a Category 2 Centre by Unesco, making IECD the first organisation in the country to reach such heights,” said Captain Savy.
He added that the future holds great potential for IECD given that the policies are consistently being reviewed, programmes are being strengthened including continuous investment in staff training and development, to ensure the delivery of high-quality ECCE outcomes and reliable services.
“Our enduring vision is to always keep the best interests of the children at the forefront. Thank you to everyone who have supported and believed in us. Your encouragement, advice, and prayers have been invaluable to us,” he said.
During the ceremony, CEO Choppy and Laurette Lebon, the human resource and budget management officer, were recognised for being the two longest-serving employees. They were presented with their Long Service Award by Captain Savy.
There were also tokens of appreciation for IECD founding members, the long-serving board members and partners, for their wholehearted contribution, active collaboration and steadfast support, which have made IECD that successful. They received their tokens from the Minister for Education, Dr Justin Valentin, Captain Savy and First Lady Ramkalawan respectively.
There were also a special token of appreciation for President Ramkalawan, taken on his behalf by First Lady Ramkalawan, and to Minister Valentin, for their support and guidance.
The ceremony also included a video presentation on IECD’s history of achievement followed by a second video on the perspective of past and present staff, key partners, and stakeholders, on IECD’s progress. There was also a brief video presentation showcasing a promising future of IECD 10 years from now and the launch of the 10th anniversary logo and that of a new campaign with 10 different themes for ten months to increase the brand awareness for IECD, raise the awareness of ECCE and to give back to the community.
The anniversary celebration ended with a cake cutting followed by a special poem ‘Mon en Zanfan’ (I am a child) by Reuben Lespoire and a song ‘Mersi’ (Thank you) by Telsy.
Patrick Joubert
