Students speak highly of UniSey |03 March 2021

Shamad and Nassirah (Photo: Thomas Meriton)

Two students from the University of Seychelles (UniSey) – Nassirah Dorby and Shamad Japha – are encouraging fellow students thinking of furthering their studies to choose the UniSey as an option for their place of study in this time of the pandemic.

Nassirah, a 23-year-old from Ile Perseverance and who is in her third year of a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Sciences and Shamad, a 24-year-old from Bel Air who is doing his Bachelor’s degree in French, say that UniSey offers the same benefits to students as those universities abroad.

They note that the university is affiliated with the University of London, the University of Mauritius, the Commonwealth of Learning, also based in London, and L’Universite de la Reunion and therefore the degree and diploma courses on offer are internationally recognised.

“There is a tendency among the youth nowadays that the UniSey is not up to standard compared to overseas universities. This is not true. The university is offering the same degree courses like those from overseas and our students locally are doing extremely well as compared to those studying abroad,” says Shamad, noting that the only difference is students studying in Seychelles are not exposed to different cultures and student life at university campuses like those studying overseas.

The two students stress that they are not against students choosing to study overseas but they only want to make known that UniSey’s course line is from overseas and that offers benefits for students in terms of allowances and different student packages based on terms and conditions of the scholarship taken.

“But here we have the benefit of our families, friends among other people and staff at the university with whom you can seek help immediately if there happens to be a problem especially in this time of the pandemic. This is a great advantage for us studying in Seychelles as compared to students studying overseas especially for students who have kids like myself,” says Nassirah, mother to a three-year-old boy.

“UniSey life is just as exciting as that at other universities overseas. You get to meet new people and experience new things,” Nassirah adds, noting that students also get the opportunity to participate in many of the university’s activities.

UniSey, through the Agency for Human Resource Development (ANHRD), offers full scholarships, half scholarships and self-finance scholarships for qualified students. Interested candidates can visit the website www.unisey.ac.sc for the different courses on offer and for any other information.

As UniSey’s advocates, the two students say that while the university relies also on part-timers to conduct classes, the university will be looking to urge those part-timers to become full-time lecturers.

They say that if more students join unisey, the university will be able to offer more courses including some being offered overseas.

Nassirah, who wants to become a marine biologist with specialisation in shark biology, started her journey at the Beau Vallon secondary school and after moved to the Seychelles Maritime Academy where she graduated with an Advanced Certificate in fisheries science.

“Before I embarked on the university life journey I had my son who is three years old now. This is what fuelled me to pursue my degree. So the University of Seychelles was by far my best choice, as I could obtain a degree in Environmental sciences and still be here with my family,” Nassirah says.

She was elected as president of the student council for UniSey in November 2020 along with Shamad, who is the vice-president.

Shamad, who is currently employed with the Ministry of Education as a primary teacher, is in his second year as a student at UniSey.

“My goal is to contribute to the struggle for a positive transformation and a modern education system and also to give a good education and instill refined qualities in the young minds so as to make them good examples in the country. Being a teacher therefore allows me to continuously grow in my profession, to increase the interest and success of the students in order to have a productive society for today and tomorrow,” Shamad says, noting that he will fight for equal rights for all Seychellois teachers.

Patrick Joubert