Students to benefit from business, financial education in curriculum as of 2023 |14 June 2021

Mr Lesperance (Photo: Joena Meme) photo left, Ms Khan (Photo: Joena Meme) and Mr Alcindor (Photo: Joena Meme)

The Ministry of Education is hoping to introduce by the beginning of 2023 a business and a financial module in the national curriculum for primary and secondary schools and in the programme of studies for professional centres.

The announcement and plan to map, integrate and implement the modules were on Friday unveiled by officials of the ministry namely the principal secretary for the development sector John Lesperance and chief education officer for professional and technical education Jean Alcindor who were joined by the principal policy analyst in the Ministry of Investment, Entrepreneurship and Industries Fadette Khan.

“Entrepreneurship is known internationally as the competency of the 21st century, and it is important to note this as it fits in with the work that we have started with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) a few years ago.

One of the reasons why it is important for us at the ministry to launch into such a project is because we know that many youth nowadays miss out on opportunities in employment. This programme will help, as the youth will have another option that they can consider. Another aspect is the lack of competency on the labour market, as well as lack of training. Another reason behind the project is that we want to introduce an entrepreneurship culture that will help the youth at primary, secondary and post-secondary level to be part of the culture, and later have access to opportunities,” PS Lesperance noted.

Mr Alcindor explained that the ministry has been allocated R300,000 through the National Financial Education Fund, under the Central Bank of Seychelles (CBS). The project comprises different phases to be undertaken by a consultant in collaboration with the ministry and stakeholders, commencing with situational analysis before moving on to the integration of the ‘Know about Business (KAB) modules and financial education modules within the curriculum. Once the competencies have been integrated into the curriculum, the project will be validated, before being piloted in certain educational institutions.

The consultant will then submit a draft of the curriculum and will work on finalising the document before implementing it in 2023.

KAB modules are focused on nine specific modules, which aim to contribute towards the creation of an enterprise culture in a country or society by promoting awareness among young people of the opportunities and challenges of entrepreneurship and self-employment and of their role in shaping their future and that of their country's economic and social development.

To facilitate the project, the ILO has extended its support to the ministry, helping to conduct training with around 60 lecturers and curriculum development officers. The ministry is still networking with ILO for future training and development opportunities, most notably in financial education.

To implement the project, an oversight committee has been established to oversee the mapping, integration and implementation of the project, which is set to kick off as of July. By October, the Ministry hopes to undertake the validation process, before the review and further training of lecturers and implementation in January 2023.

The decision for the integration into the curriculum was approved by Cabinet on June 2, 2021.

Laura Pillay