Tourism and Hospitality Management |18 March 2023
18 Seychellois students
get bachelor's degree
Eighteen (18) Seychellois students from the ninth and tenth cohorts officially received their bachelor's degree in a graduation ceremony held at Shannon College, Ireland, on March 9, 2023 after completing their top-up degree in Tourism and Hospitality Management.
The graduation ceremony was attended by the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Tourism, Sylvestre Radegonde, and the director of the Seychelles Tourism Academy (STA), Terence Max.
The partnership between the STA and the Shannon College of Hotel Management dates back to 2010 when the first cohort left for Ireland to complete the course.
The top-up degree course allows the students to join in the fourth year of the programme after completing their first three years of the Advanced Diploma in Hospitality Management (ADHM) programme at the STA. The ADHM Programme is supervised by the Shannon College and has been validated by the National University of Galway, Ireland.
Due to the Covid-19 restrictions, eight of the students from the ninth cohort had undergone the first part of their one-year programme online. Despite the challenges of following the course at different time zones and remaining focused on the programme delivery, they surmounted the challenges and completed the rest of the programme successfully.
Mr Max expressed his pride in seeing the students receive their bachelor's certificates.
“The graduation of this new cohort is a testimony of the hard work that each and every student have put into their studies, combined with the strong support from the Academy, the Shannon College, and their proud parents and relatives – many of whom have made the long journey to celebrate with the students on their achievement. Our objective is to continue to produce strong Seychellois talents who will eventually take up managerial positions within our hospitality industry. They are now equipped with the baggage and aptitude to join and succeed in this dynamic industry at the highest level. The Academy is involved and working very closely with its parent ministry through specific strategies to ensure that we achieve this objective and, more so, to support the graduates in their professional development and progression. Our prime emphasis is to increase the retention rate of our local talents within our tourism and hospitality industry. This will be the measurement of our ultimate success. I wish them well in their future undertakings,” Mr Max said.
The accompanying photos show some highlights of the graduation ceremony.
Text & photos contributed
