STA hosts familiarisation visit for careers and PSCE secondary teachers   |25 August 2023

Teachers engaging in the question and answer session (Photos: Neil Sirame)

The Seychelles Tourism Academy and the tourism department yesterday organised a familiarisation visit for a group of personal, social and careers education teachers from secondary schools where they were also presented with the courses on offer.

The objective of the visit was to encourage more students to opt for a career in tourism which includes choosing the Seychelles Tourism Academy (STA) as their first choice at post-secondary level. One way of doing that was to influence them, via their career guidance and hospitality teachers.

The workshop at the academy yesterday morning provided the teachers with an update on the grades required for each course, and to better orient and guide their students on the best choice for their career path.

When addressing the teachers, STA’s principal Terrence Max said the fact that visitors arriving on Seychelles’ shores were increasingly exigent in their request, impacted on the service delivery of the hospitality industry.

“Given this prevailing situation that the hospitality and tourism businesses are operating, it is imminent that they will have to be dynamic and proactive in their approach to adapt with the new demand of those esteemed customers,” said Mr Max.

He stated that for the hospitality industry to continue to be successful, it must have quality talents to deliver and allow businesses to maintain their competitiveness in the market.

The principal emphasised to the career and hospitality teachers, that they were targeting quality over quantity, meaning that STA was looking for learners who were passionate, dedicated and interested in working in the tourism industry.

He urged the teachers to focus on encouraging those whom they were convinced could be first choice applicants to the academy. “As a tourism academy our prime mission is to form and develop quality local talents for this industry as they rely on us to furnish them with quality talents that will fit in the specific demands of their business concept,” said Mr Max.

He stated that the presence of the teachers at the familiarisation visit was critical in enforcing their strategy to ensure that every potential talent who decides to enroll at the academy does so through informed decisions based on a broad understanding of the level of standards and expectations, as to where their journey at the academy will lead them to and above all the conviction of having the desire and passion to make a successful career out of their chosen field.

Mr Max urged the teachers to engage with the lecturers of STA as they are seasoned professionals and the best people to connect with to support the teachers in delivering their roles to the fullest.

For her part, deputy principal of STA Brigitte Joubert presented the courses on offer at the academy and the grades required.

Kethleen Harrison, the quality assurance officer, spoke about the role of the student support department.

In an interview with the media, Claudette Baccaria who is a career teacher at Beau Vallon secondary school said visits such as these are important as the students will be better informed on the criteria needed for entry and the academy’s expectations.

 It will also help those students who are yet to choose their subjects for IGCSE and national exams, to apply more focus on which subjects are needed to enroll at the academy.

“At my school there are a lot of students who are keen in enrolling at STA and from today’s session I feel I am better equipped to guide my students in choosing the fitting course and the career,” said Ms Baccaria.

Neil Sirame