Vijay Construction donates R1 million to primary schools |19 December 2019

A souvenir photograph after the handover ceremony (Photo: Louis Toussaint)

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of Vijay Construction, the president of the company, Vijay Patelm, has donated R1 million to the Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development.

This will be apportioned through a voucher of R40,000 to thirty-six primary schools on Mahé, Praslin and La Digue.

The handover of the donation ceremony took place on Tuesday afternoon at the Cascade primary school.

In attendance at the ceremony were the Minister for Education and Human Resource Development, Jeanne Simeon; the principal secretary for early childhood, primary and secondary education, Dr Odile Decommarmond; the director general of primary education, Cyril Pillay; the director of Vijay Construction, Goovary Patel; and head teachers of various primary schools.

“Vijay Construction has responded to our call that education is a shared responsibility. The Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development is continually investing considerably in terms of financial resources to create a better environment for learning,” said PS Decommarmond in her opening address.

She added that the responsibility of education does not rest solely on the ministry but needs the support of private sector, parents and other partners because “when we work together as a team, we can achieve great things”.

“Vijay Construction has been a long-standing partner who has contributed generously to the improvement of education in Seychelles; this is not through Vijay Construction but through other forums where Mr Patel is a member,” said PS Decommarmond.                    

She ended by calling upon the primary head teachers to make good use of the financial donation in order to bring about improvements in their respective schools.

Speaking to the press after the ceremony, the principal secretary added that the ministry on its own is not able to provide all schools with the necessary resources that they want, so donations like this are generously accepted.

She also took the opportunity to call upon other organisations to follow suit.

Michel Madeleine, the head teacher of La Digue primary school, noted that the donation will be used to bring technology to the forefront of the classroom.

Julianna Agathine, the head teacher of Beau Vallon primary, said that the donation will be used to improve reading through the purchasing of books.

She added that the school will also be purchasing a computer for the library to make research easier for students.

Christophe Zialor