State schools gear up for new term   |19 January 2024

The Perseverance secondary school is all set for the new term

After six weeks of school break, state schools are getting ready for their new calendar year. Both primary and secondary institutions are putting the final touches, ahead of the new term which starts next Monday, January 22 for crèches, Primary 2 to 6 and secondary 1, and on Tuesday, January 23 for the remaining classes.

Seychelles NATION toured some schools in the town area and its outskirts yesterday to see the preparations, starting with Bel Eau primary. According to head teacher Jane Laurette, the school is in good state, not requiring major renovations or maintenance.

However, Bel Eau primary faces two major challenges, which she hopes will be addressed this year. Firstly, managing the number of students enrolling at the school. Bel Eau primary has for the past years enrolled pupils outside of the zone, as most parents who work in the town area tend to place their children there for schooling. Mrs Laurette said despite being welcoming in the past, “in 2024, we will try to manage our quota of students and see how many pupils we are enrolling”.

The school was also concerned with the number of staff. Mrs Laurette said they were faced with a lack of teachers last year as some resigned at the end of their contract, while others wanted to develop professionally so took up part-time studies, meaning they were absent for some classes. The school also had teachers who were away on medical grounds.

Mrs Laurette said they looked for other staff to step in to complete the curriculum, adding they managed to keep everything under control despite the stressful conditions. In 2024, the school plans to recruit new teachers, especially in the French department.

“We have expatriate teachers working with us but they are mostly good in English language and Mathematics,” explained Mrs Laurette.

Bel Eau primary caters for children with special needs, and works closely with parents to tackle the issue of lack of discipline among some pupils.

“The important role is for our school to be better,” said Mrs Laurette.

At the Mont Fleuri primary, head teacher Sherley Hoareau, who is in her second year at the helm, said she had big plans for 2024. “After observing for a year and making amendments behaviour wise, this year I plan on focusing all out on learning,” said Ms Hoareau, adding she has already spoken to her staff and made arrangements on how to better improve the students’ learning space.

Apart from shifting the students to new classrooms, the teachers are also touching up their classes with a fresh coat of paint and getting rid of old items clogging the rooms.

Ms Hoareau said she was very happy to see teachers who were already on board and had even completed remodelling their classes. “I feel good about this new initiative,” she stated.

However one challenge was the pressure to accommodate many students exempted from various other schools. Being small, Mont Fleuri primary finds it hard to accommodate more students at the moment and being under-staffed makes it difficult to accept such requests, said Ms Hoareau.

At the Plaisance primary school, head teacher Therese Athanase said they were all set to welcome back the pupils. “Our main goal is to develop every pupil to their full potential.”

They are not doing any maintenance on the school since they carried out some work not too long ago. The most recent update on the structure was a wall that was built around the school. “The wall opposite the fast food shop and main road is already completed in order to keep our pupils safe,” shared Mrs Athanase.

She is appealing to the pupils to take their education seriously and to give it their maximum. “So that when they finish their adventures in school they can say that they’ve made it and has accumulated all the skills needed.”

Furthermore, she expects parents to work hand in hand with teachers in order to create a good community and environment for their children.

Lack of staff was the main issue encountered by the school. “We have some vacancies, but we can work with the number of teachers available to start the new year,” explained the head teacher. To address the matter, the school has redeployed some staff to ensure that all classes and subjects are covered.

Secondary institutions were also doing their final touches. Perseverance secondary school, which was initially earmarked for a national vocational centre but later cancelled, was all set for the new term. The school was putting everything in place to accommodate the new students in secondary one (S1), as well as doing their results day.

Speaking to Seychelles NATION, deputy head teacher Bernard Jolicoeur said the school was almost ready to welcome back their students, despite having to deal with the possibility of closing last year.

“We did not bother to start with some projects planned last year as we thought they would be futile since the school was going to close down. However, we have now included them in this year’s plan.”

Similar to other schools, they are also in need of teachers in some departments such as mathematics and religious studies.

In 2024, Belonie secondary school is implementing the new three-year strategic plan initiated in September last year. Head teacher Medgee Nancy said they were all set for the new school year. Their main challenge was lack of space to cater for the large number of students enrolling in S1, which has rendered some parents frustrated. “It is not easy to accommodate so many kids as Belonie is a rather small school,” explained Ms Nancy.

The final tour was at the Pointe Larue secondary school, where renovation works are being done on the old structure. According to school director, Channel Soomery, this encompasses the S4 and S5 blocks. Due to these renovations, students, will not be able to resume school on Tuesday January 23, and will be notified of the new date.

“This year, the technical block as well as two other blocks will be renovated. By December 2024, the public will see a different Pointe Larue secondary school, which will be brand new and a stable school,” Mr Soomery said.

He also said they also plan to improve academically in 2024, as the students did not fare well last year.

By Kassey Govinden, Alana Esther & Anika Cathene