Chinese delegation visit Tourism Academy   |24 July 2023

PS Lesperance (at podium) addressing the gathering

  Discuss further collaborations

A delegation from the China-Africa TVET Alliance visited the Seychelles Tourism Academy (STA) on Saturday where they met the institution’s directors to talk about future cooperation between the alliance and the local  institution.

In addition, there were also discussions about future collaborations with the Ministry of Education and the Seychelles Institute of Technology (SIT).

The team comprising eleven officials, including senior  education officials, political officials and directors from Dongying and Xianyang Vocational Institutes, was in Seychelles for a  familiarisation visit as part of a memorandum of understanding signed in December 2022, between the Ministry of Education and the China Africa TVET Alliance.

In his welcoming remarks, the principal secretary in the Education Sector Development department, John Lesperance, said the ministry has established a range of collaborative projects with China International Intellectech Co, Ltd (CIIC) and the TVET Alliance to improve the comprehensiveness of the National Occupational Standards and Competency among education and training in Seychelles.

“The outcome of the project is expected to support curriculum development of the newly founded National and Technical and Vocational Secondary School as well as to improve the curriculum of post-secondary institutions known as professional centres,” stated PS Lesperance.

He explained that the alliance has been supporting the capacity development of the Seychelles TVET teachers and noted that the first cohort of Seychellois teachers in China is nearing the completion of their training and will be returning to the country in August. The second cohort is expected to leave Seychelles soon for China and will receive training at various Chinese TVET institutions.

“The ministry hopes that more teachers will be given similar opportunities to build their capacity and get support.”

Mr Lesperance also made a special request for support to facilitate the running of the National Technical School when it opens its doors in January 2024.

“The government of Seychelles values this partnership and hopes this outcome will benefit the youth of Seychelles, especially those who will be pursuing a career at a TVET occupational area,” he stated, thanking the delegation for making the project a reality.

For his part, the secretary of the Party Committee of Xianyang Vocational Technical College, Du Zhenbo, said that there was a very comprehensive conversation with the Ministry of Education during the visit.

“We are highly impressed by the development happening in Seychelles and the commitment. On behalf of our institute, I would like to express that we are committed to the collaborations with the ministry in different aspects including teacher training and curriculum review,” he stated.

The deputy secretary of the Party Committee of Xianyang Vocational Technical College, Zhang Jiangang, stated that his delegation was moved by the commitment from everybody present in the room, including the Ministry of Education and institutions like STA to the development of TVET.

“We have been working closely with our partners from Seychelles. In May and June, there were three teachers in Seychelles trained in our college,” he stated.

Mr Jiangang noted that, overall, the college is very satisfied with the training provided to Seychellois teachers.

“Today we are willing to have further discussions in detail regarding the TVET collaborations with us. Based on the capacity that we have, I am committed to providing support from outside for future collaborations.”

To talk about the current collaboration between the Alliance and the Ministry of Education was the director general of the African side of China-Africa TVET Alliance, Dr Gong Zhiwu, who discussed the technical courses that will be offered. He noted that there are 15 colleges and institutions based in China which will provide support and review occupational standards and the corresponding curriculum.

“This will kick off in August and will be done by November or December so that we can be there for the school’s opening,” he noted.

There will also be eight trainees from Seychelles that will be trained in China and there will be another batch of eight trainees very soon in September.

“These are the ongoing collaborations we have but in the future what we are going to do is there are several sectors the National Technical School is focusing on, such as digital technology, transport technology, fisheries, travel and tourism. We are going to continuously identify and select China’s productive institutions in the corresponding sectors,” he stated.

They may also consider including some Chinese language courses in the programme and they will also identify the equipment that will be needed.

During the meeting, there were also three presentations; the first being from PS Lesperance which was about the current development of the National Technical School. There were discussions regarding the gradual implementation plan for the conversion of Ile Perseverance secondary school into a vocational school. This includes the transformation of the current General Secondary Education and Skills Development Pathway: PERS, to include a relatively new facility to enhance the appeal of TVET and sufficient space for future expansions to accommodate additional training facilities.

Phase 1, which will be implemented in 2024, will see additional furniture for 500 students and 25 staff members. In addition, there will be specialised equipment and learning materials, as well as conversion of some infrastructure and facilities.

There was also a presentation by STA director Terence Max, followed by one from the SIT director, Hubert Barbe, which highlighted the importance of maintaining collaboration between institutions from China and Seychelles in order to strengthen the educational sector.

Sunny Esparon