Teachers urged to register with council |04 October 2023
The Teachers Council of Seychelles is encouraging teachers to register so as to be able to enhance quality teaching and learning in schools.
The call was made by the council during a ceremony held yesterday at the Seychelles Institute for Teacher Education (SITE), Mont Fleuri, whereby the council gave an overview of its progress since its launch in January this year.
Present at the ceremony were the Minister for Education, Dr Justin Valentin; principal secretary for Education Services, Merna Eulentin; principal secretary for Education Sector Development, John Lesperance; chairperson of the council, Yasmin Umarji; vice-chairperson, Andy Esparon; as well as other board members, senior officials from the ministry and teachers from schools across the country.
Representatives of various sponsors supporting the council were also present.
The presentation on the council's work carried out throughout the year was done by Mrs Umarji and the council's registrar, Inesse Oreddy.
It was pointed out that around 700 teachers have registered with the council so far. Collaborative work has been ongoing with the National Bureau of Statistics to create registration numbers for all teachers.
To encourage teachers to register, the council was working with several local businesses to seek incentives. Registered teachers will benefit from various incentives which will include discounts at Sacos, Penlac company, Active Electronics, Constance Lemuria Praslin Seychelles, Castello Beach Hotel, Shreeji Group outlets as well as designated mobile packages and free online registration with Airtel Seychelles.
Other than showcase the remarkable progress achieved by the Teachers Council of Seychelles, yesterday’s event was also to share an innovative online Continuous Professional Development (CPD) platform being carried out by the Independent School.
One core function of the council is to establish and maintain CPD schemes for teachers, and in order to carry out this important task, the council searched for best practice related to the CPD and came across TES Develop. It is an online platform providing access to a selection of courses for teachers that will contribute towards their professional development.
Independent School is using this online training platform for its teachers and those attending had the chance to learn more about it through a presentation given by the school’s director, Andy Esparon.
Addressing invitees, Ms Eulentin said the gathering was part of activities to mark this year's Teachers’ Week being held under the theme 'The transformation of education begins with teachers'.
“Hence, we find it fitting for us to seize this chance to express our commitment to the Teacher Management and Development Policy 2020 (TMD Policy),” she said.
“As stipulated in the TMD Policy, the setting up of the Teachers Council of Seychelles and the carrying out of the Continuous Professional Development (CPD) are pivotal components of the dimension four – Teacher professionalisation and dimension five – Teacher development,” Ms Eulentin noted.
She added that the imperative registration of all teachers by the council is emphasised in the policy.
Ms Eulentin said in its effort to promote CPD and ensure that teachers remain abreast of new development and as part of the process to carry out the TMD policy, the ministry in collaboration with SITE held several CPD sessions earlier this year.
It is anticipated that the CPD platform and other such platforms will provide ample opportunities for teachers to further empower themselves for improved student performance, Ms Eulentin stated.
“The ministry acknowledges that the council will play a pivotal role in addressing some challenges such as having an up-to-date workforce database, including teacher qualifications and the need for professional development.”
The most memorable part of the ceremony was the presentation of identification numbers to teachers who have already registered, which were presented to representatives of the different zones.
Aside from the presentations, the audience enjoyed performances by Beau Vallon primary school and well-known local artist José Charles.
The accompanying photos show some highlights of the ceremony.
Mandy Bertin
Photos by Louis Toussaint
