Foundation stone laid for new school on Ile Perseverance |20 January 2012

This was followed by the unveiling of the project banner by President James Michel and the principal secretary for Land Use and Housing, Christian Lionnet.

Guests at the colourful ceremony also included other ministers, the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly David Pierre, members of the National Assembly and other senior government officials.

Ile Perseverance students sang a welcome song in English and Creole, followed by a poem recital by Devlyn Nourrice entitled Ecole de mon rêve.

The principal secretary for Education, Merida Delcy, called the laying of the foundation stone for the Ile Perseverance primary school a “historic moment” for our education system and country.

She noted that it is being sited on what was formerly part of the ocean and nobody could imagine that this part of the ocean would one day be transformed into a magnificent village.
 
“The government had a vision and a forward looking plan of development for our country,” she said, adding that this great investment is a clear testimony of its conviction in education as an indispensable investment for the future.

Ms Delcy said that soon the children of Ile Perseverance will not have to travel far to go to school.

“Today’s event further emphasises the commitment of the government to provide our children with the best possible facilities that the country can afford, to provide them with the best opportunities to be well educated and to develop their potential to the fullest in the best possible conditions,” she said.

In total three schools are planned to serve the future residents of Ile Perseverance – two primary schools with their associated creche and one secondary school.

The project is being financed partly by loans from the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (Badea), the Opec Fund for International Development and the Seychelles government.

The contract for the first school is R39.9 million and the contractors are Allied Builders. The completion date is set for January 2013.

The first school has been designed according to the norms of the department of education for primary level institutions. The school will have a capacity for a maximum 540 students, housed in 18 classrooms, while the creche will have a capacity of 180.

Commenting on the school project later, President Michel called on parents to help create an environment which is conducive to learning.

He said there is a need to revise the school curriculum and he is happy to learn that the ministry responsible for education has already taken the initiative to introduce civics education.

President Michel commented that such a move will hopefully help our youths learn and adopt good moral values, such as respect, courtesy and honesty, allowing them to develop into good and productive citizens.

On future development, the Head of State also said that credit facilities constitute an important issue.

He said that too often, small entrepreneurs often remain small because they don’t have the means, such as credit from commercial banks, to allow them to grow bigger.

On the other hand, the big entrepreneurs continue getting bigger because they have the means to bid and win new contracts.

“The void must be filled,” President Michel stressed. “Everyone must be allowed to continue baking the cake so that it can be bigger, with everyone getting a fair share.”