21 teacher students graduate |27 July 2019

Caption: President’s Cup winner Mary-Jim Camille

A total of 21 students following three programmes at the Seychelles Institute of Teacher Education (SITE) graduated from the centre during a ceremony held yesterday.

Nine students graduated with a diploma in education in early childhood, six with diploma in education - primary and six with a diploma in education - technology and enterprise.

Present at the ceremony was the Minister for Education and Human Resource Development Jeanne Simeon, Minister for Family Affairs Mitcy Larue, high officials from the education ministry, students and staff of SITE, friends and family of the graduates as well as sponsors for the event.

Mary-Jim Camille was the most outstanding student of her cohort, scooping up the prestigious President’s Cup award.

Her prizes included a laptop from President Danny Faure, a full scholarship with the Agency for National Human Resource Development (ANHRD) and other prizes from various sponsors.

Camille, who followed a diploma in education in early childhood course as a mature student, said that her accomplishments are the results of her hard work and efforts over the last three years.

“I feel proud since I have put a lot of interest and hard work during these years. It was not easy but I persevered,” she added.

Given that she had previously served as teacher, Camille now believes that she has amassed all the tools necessary to deal with the various difficulties and challenges ahead.

“I want to further my studies, gain more knowledge and experience so that I can deliver quality and better work.”

Jeannine Raforme, another graduate in early childhood, clinched the Seychelles Institute of Teacher Award.

She is the first recipient of this award which is meant for graduates who embarked on their journey with SITE through the Teacher Aspiring Programme, an initiative aimed at attracting students from Secondary 3 to Secondary 5, from the School of Advanced Level Studies (Sals) as well as from other professional centres.

“Growing up I was always inspired by my teachers, I’ve already observed them and how they reacted to their students. This is what inspired me and developed my passion for teaching,” she said.

“The Aspiring Teacher Programme is a great one which provides you with on-the-field experience, shows you the strategies and how to effectively navigate a classroom,” she added.

Raforme also took home the award for best academic performance in her course.

Other awardees of the night went to Meryl Da Vantin (best professional practice - early childhood), Janessa Rosalie (best academic performance and best professional practice - primary), Laureen Francourt (best professional practice - technology and enterprise) and Hilary Ladouceur (best academic performance -technology and enterprise).

In her speech, the director of SITE, Rosianna Jules, stated that teachers are central to improving the quality of education and are the most powerful tool in a country’s socio-economic growth.

She noted SITE’ s numerous efforts to incite the entry of better qualified teachers into the educational sector such as through the blended learning mode which is training around 140 supply teachers at diploma level and 40 diploma level teachers to advance diploma level.

“We are committed to improving our services and engaging in several marketing and promotion initiatives to entice young people to join our institution,” Mrs Jules stated while also adding that an agreement is in the works with Sals in regards to the Aspiring Teachers Programme.