Getting to know our ministers … Dr Justin Valentin, Minister for Education |14 December 2020
Being sworn in as minister
‘My return to the Ministry of Education is a direct obligation to serve my country and to assist in the transformation of education’
Seychelles has a new cabinet with 13 new ministers appointed. While some of them are familiar faces, a few others have not been in the limelight. In an effort to better acquaint ourselves with the new cabinet, Seychelles NATION will be sharing with its readers the profile of each minister on a regular basis.
Today we present to our readers the Minister for Education, Dr Justin Valentin. He was, until his new ministerial appointment, the vice-chancellor of the University of Seychelles and describes himself as a people’s person. As soon as he took office, he urged everyone involved in the local education system to renew their commitment to working for the ministry and give this great country the best possible deal. Minister Valentin will try to significantly improve students’ performances in all aspects and remarkably improve disciplinary behaviour across the system, while, right from the outset, he will push forward the agenda of school autonomy.
Seychelles NATION: Who is Justin Valentin?
Minister Valentin: Justin Davis Valentin was born on April 14, 1971 and I am a mathematics education specialist. I also did some television programmes back in the 90s reciting poems, telling stories and making people laugh out loud. I am a father of two and resides at Au Cap. I started reciting poems at a young age, when I was still in primary four at the Takamaka school. I was inspired to venture into this wonderful world of words and emotions by my brother – medical doctor Bernard Valentin – who was a poet.
I also spend a lot of time on the web learning new things and enjoy socialising, meeting new people and I love to talk. I am a people’s person and I enjoy being in the company of families. I also have a recent passion for hiking. Listening to elderly people talk fascinates me. I love the way they talk and the expressions they use as I see them as amazing. And I have always enjoyed listening to my mother. She is one lady who has inspired me in many ways and has motivated me throughout my journey in life.
Seychelles NATION: Tell our readers about your journey from childhood to your young adult years.
Minister Valentin: After my primary education, I spent two years at the defunct National Youth Service (NYS). It was a time of discovery for me as it helped build my confidence and tolerance. At the NYS, I learned how to live with others, to appreciate what I have and to develop values such as sharing and building strong bonds with those you live with. My days at the NYS led me to believe that two brothers at a young age should share a room at home because this will help them build a closer bond and develop great values in life.
After leaving the NYS after two years, I sat for my O-Levels then my A-Levels in mathematics, chemistry and physics. When I was doing my A-Levels, I found out that I enjoyed teaching other students mathematics and I saw it as an interesting experience.
I received my B.Ed (Hons) from Edith Cowan University in 1997 and the same year I started to teach at the NYS for two years. Again I can describe it as an enriching experience as it was there that I built my career-path and foundation in education.
Seychelles NATION: Please tell us more about your professional life.
Minister Valentin: After the closing of the NYS, I went to work at the Ministry of Education’s headquarters in the research section and in 2001 I went to Malaysia to pursue further studies. I came back with a Master of Education from the University of Science in 2003. After concerns were raised over low performances in mathematics, the Improvement of Pupils' Achievement in Mathematics (IPAM) project was launched in 2003 to look into the matter. The IPAM project is the centrepiece of my career because through it I discovered the beauty of teaching and of working with teachers. I am indeed satisfied with the results attained from the IPAM project.
After that, I was the recipient of a Commonwealth scholarship and from 2009 to 2012, I was focused on my studies at King’s College London. My thesis entitled ‘Primary mathematics teaching reform in a small island developing state: the case of the mathematics lesson structure in Seychelles’ shows that the primary mathematics teaching reform led from 2004 to 2009 has benefited both teaching and leadership in various ways.
The thesis generates several important themes about pedagogical innovation such as the roles of context, the challenges to reform teacher practices and the need to create specific teacher learning models in relation to the size of the country.
I was also appointed director general of the policy planning and research division in the Ministry of Education, and also holds a PhD in Mathematics Education and has been conferred the award with effect from April 2013. A lot of people have known me as being an artist but when at a crossroads to choosing my career path, I had no interest in choosing arts as a field to specialise in.
Seychelles NATION: And now, having been appointed a minister, what will be your main duty and how accessible will you be to the public?
Minister Valentin: My return to the Ministry of Education is a direct obligation to serve my country and to assist in the transformation of education. In terms of the provision for education, we all concur that Seychelles deserves a better deal in so many areas.
I acknowledge the tough work of many people including several of my predecessors who have worked tirelessly in revamping education. I equally acknowledge that there were many practices or ideas which could have been addressed differently for better results. So I bring into the hot seat, lessons drawn from my own professional experience and from outcomes of deep discussions which I have had with several people who have education at heart. I also humbly bring to that seat, a will to realise the aspirations of many students and parents. I am aware of the breadth and depth of the tasks that lie ahead of me and of the intricacy of the deed entrusted to me. I take this responsibility with my full consciousness.
My main priority as Minister for Education is to improve student academic performance and remarkably improve disciplinary behaviour across the system. I will do my best to lead this ministry towards these ends. The drive to improve performance and behaviour may require significant change in our approach to do things. If it requires change, I will have no choice. If it requires that we change functions and roles, we will have no choice.
Right from the outset I can state that I will push the agenda of school autonomy. I have had adequate opportunities to formulate and take a position about school autonomy. I will push an agenda of giving head teachers and PC leaders full power and control over their school and institution. I seek to reposition the headquarters in a different relationship with the schools. In doing so, I will capitalise on existing policies to strengthen school-based support structure. School-based subject leaders and curriculum leaders will have a central role in leading their respective subject at the school. We will renovate and strengthen structures that confront and deal with inappropriate behaviour. We will model each and every school against critical performance benchmark. Ultimately, we will make learning experiences interesting and worthwhile.
I place technology at the core of education development. I am going to influence everybody to embrace technology fully so that the Ministry of Education and its institutions become technology-based institutions.
Every single individual in the Ministry of Education will have their roles to play and they will have to do them in the most efficient way. I believe in a culture of collaborative engagement, meaning deliberation and reflective practices so I will promote such culture.
