Education review |29 December 2023

Newly built Belonie school

Year marked by activities leading towards ‘Fer Lekol Gou’

In an exciting start to January, students from DELF (Diplôme d'Études en Langue Française) and DALF (Diplôme Approfondi en Langue Française) achieved 96.6% success rate. The Ministry of Education also made significant progress by acquiring various resources for special education needs, including books, braille embossment for the visually impaired, and sets of toys for skills development.

Additionally, January witnessed the launch of the Teachers Council of Seychelles (TCS) to regulate and promote the teaching profession, aligning with the Education Regulation 2021.

As schools resumed on January 23, both primary and secondary levels experienced favourable conditions, with a total of 10,782 students from crèche to P6 and 6,653 from S1 to S5 across all islands.

A revised memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Colombo International Nautical Engineering College (Cinec) of Sri Lanka marked a significant step, focusing on academic cooperation for seafarer skills development. The agreement will allow Cinec and the Seychelles Maritime Academy (SMA) to continue to maintain and enhance the existing framework for academic cooperation to develop the skills of seafarers to meet the requirements of IMO/STCW ’78 Convention as well as to develop and maintain their professional standards as required by ship owners. 

In March, the Ministry of Education (MoE) conducted an analysis of the 2022 P6, IGCSE, DELF, and A-level examination results, expressing dissatisfaction with the outcomes. In response, Minister Justin Valentin emphasized the need for a systematic approach to enhance student performance. He stated: “We believe that, irrespective of our efforts, a systematic approach is crucial for improving student performance. Consequently, we have established Attainment teams in all schools to assess, monitor, and address students' performance from the beginning of the academic year. As issues arise, the teams are tasked with addressing them systematically.”

The year also brought positive developments for government scholarship recipients, with a 10 percent increase in stipends for students from seventeen countries, including those enrolled at the University of Seychelles (UniSey).

Additionally, March marked the transfer of legal responsibility for childcare matters in the 0-5 age group to the Institute of Early Childhood Development, following the enactment of the new Early Childhood Development (ECD) Act 2022.

The Ministry of Health started its campaign to vaccinate schoolchildren aged 5 to 11 years on Mahé, Praslin and La Digue with the Paediatric Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against Covid-19.

In April, the Ministry of Education (MoE) introduced the 'Ethics Education' programme in eleven (11) primary schools and four (4) secondary schools as a pilot project. Unesco generously granted US $16,836 (R234, 080) to support this initiative.

President Wavel Ramkalawan honoured fifty-eight (58) outstanding students who excelled in their IGCSE and A-Level exams last year. This recognition extended to high achievers from both public and private secondary and post-secondary institutions nationwide, with each recipient receiving a Seychelles pin flag from President Ramkalawan.

To facilitate advanced or tertiary studies abroad, an Education Loan Scheme was introduced. Applicants can seek a maximum loan of R800,000 from six participating banks and Seychelles Credit Union.

Throughout the year, Minister Valentin conducted visits to various schools and post-secondary institutions. Teachers participated in workshops locally and abroad. Other major activities involving students and teachers included Hospitality Tourism clubs and the celebration of international days such as Autism Day, World Creative and Innovation Day, Africa Day, World Olympic Day, Blue Economy Day, among others. Children's Day was enthusiastically celebrated across all schools.

The newly constructed Belonie school was also inaugurated in May.

In August over 100 students who have completed their A-levels were awarded a scholarship to pursue their studies in universities abroad and eight technical and vocational education training teachers who left Seychelles in May to follow a three-month training in four Chinese colleges returned to the country.

In September, the « Association Seychelloise des Enseignants de Français (ASEF) » elected its executive committee. Seychelles also hosted the first ever Youth Education Summit.

In October, most activities were geared towards the celebration of World Teachers’ Day.

In November, teachers of Port Glaud school conveyed their concerns through a manifestation outside their school following an incident at the school. The concerned minister and his team met with them to calm the situation.

Several articles have been published by our newspaper about the private schools – International School, Independent School, Ecole Française des Seychelles, Trotters Stop and Interhearts

Sharing his views on the year, Minister Justin Valentin noted that “2023 was another interesting and exciting year for the Ministry of Education. We began the year with a new slogan, ‘fer lekol gou’, focusing on improving both the teaching and learning experiences. There were a lot of initiatives from schools which helped promote this ideology ‘fer lekol gou’. My quest to revive Arts Education in school was another boost to the theme. We strengthened the breakfast programme and we kept pushing our institutional autonomy programme. For the first time we held a Youth Education Summit aiming at giving the youth a voice in decision making. We also brought a major teachers’ convention on Praslin - another first time event, to give the inner island teachers a say in how we can transform to improve their overall engagement within the system.”

Minister Valentin also shared that the main challenge for the ministry was related to their intention to convert the Ile Perseverance school into the National Technical and Vocational School. “Our idea was shaped by concerns expressed by parents and students. We listened to all parties and we reviewed our model of implementation to fit the reality of our context and needs.”

Looking ahead to 2024, Minister Valentin shared that “our main focus for 2024 is to re-look at our secondary schooling structure; review the curriculum and assessment framework, and work with all partners to give the Ministry of Education an effective EMIS (Educational Management Information System). We also aim to improve school ethos and culture with a special focus on behaviour and discipline. We will also have a strong focus on the obesity campaign placing emphasis on health and wellness of both teachers and students”

Vidya Gappy