The President of the Republic of Seychelles Mr Wavel Ramkalawan, held a
special panel discussion this morning at the Seychelles Institute of Teacher
Education Auditorium, with the group of Seychellois students who were expected
to further their degree level studies in 2020, but had to
differ or postpone their studies, due to COVID-19 Pandemic. Also present, were
the Vice-President, Mr Ahmed Afif; the Minister for Education, Dr Justin
Valentin; the Principal Secretary for Tertiary Education and Human Resource
Development, Dr Linda Barallon and the Chief Executive Officer of the Agency
for National Human Resource Development (ANHRD), Mrs Nadia Lauricourt.
The main objective of the session was to answer pertinent questions the
graduates had in relation to their studies, discuss the way forward and outline
the new Government’s approach regarding education and further studies.
Addressing the students, the President reassured them that their
education and future remain top priority for the Government. Additionally, he
informed them that he would prefer that they start their higher education
studies as soon as possible, so as to avoid a break in the chain, where
Seychelles will see no or very few University graduates in certain fields for a
year. He stated, “The issue of your scholarship has been of utmost importance
for me. I discussed it in the National Assembly and it remains a priority of
mine. I want to see you receiving your degrees…doctors, engineers, lawyers…,
whatever you want to follow”.
President Ramkalawan further informed the students that the United Arab
Emirates has offered Seychelles 20 fully-funded scholarships. He urged them to
take full advantage of this opportunity. Furthermore, the Government is also in
negotiation with other countries, via their embassies, in order to secure
additional scholarships for Seychellois students.
During the session, the students had the opportunity to voice out their
concerns on various issues, namely choice of Universities; allowance;
requirements and criteria for scholarships; communication between themselves and the ANHRD; placement for internships, amongst others.
Following the meeting, the students expressed
their gratitude to the Head of State and his team for making the time to hear
their views, as well as providing clarifications concerning their future
professional development.
