Absa Seychelles gifts 102 digital thermometers to primary and secondary schools |04 June 2021

Mr Arnephy (left) accepting the donation from Mr Schalkwyk (Photo: Jude Morel)

Absa Bank Seychelles has handed over 102 infrared thermometers to the Ministry of Education.

The handover took place during a short ceremony at Absa Seychelles’ headquarters, Capital City on the occasion of Children’s Day on June 1.

Present at the ceremony were representatives from the Ministry of Education, the managing director of Absa Bank Seychelles, Johan Van Schalkwyk, and head of marketing and corporate relations at Absa Seychelles, Amanda Bernstein.

The gift, valued at R137,000, was presented to Bernard Arnephy, director general for institutional support services at the Ministry of Education with the expectation of supporting health screening efforts in primary and secondary schools.

“On behalf of the Ministry of Education, we would like to extend our gratitude to Absa Seychelles for this much needed contribution to our schools. We will put the thermometers to good use and the teachers of the primary and secondary schools thank you for the donation,” said Regina Prosper, director for health and safety at the Ministry of Education when speaking at the handover ceremony.

The thermometers will benefit government primary and secondary schools registered in Seychelles. This follows last year’s donation of 58 infrared thermometers to the Institute of Early Childhood Development (IECD) valued at over R80,000.

“Giving to schools during the celebration of Children’s Day is the best way of giving back to the community right now and the occasion couldn’t have come at a better time. Such a donation contributes towards the screening process in our institutions when our country still remains vulnerable to Covid-19 challenges. We know that the infrared thermometers will be put to good use in all primary and secondary schools,” said Mr Van Schalkwyk.

“To date, the bank has distributed over 1500 stickers around Seychelles to help guide and promote social distancing, as well as making banking solutions available for customers and sharing healthy practices for when visiting public spaces over our social media channels,” added Mr Van Schalkwyk.

Contributed