Three Seychellois awarded Chevening scholarships |07 September 2012

Isnard is a third secretary within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Hunt the press attaché within the same ministry and Songor is a police inspector.

The pre-departure briefing and award ceremony took place at the British high commission in Victoria Thursday where the three were presented with a certificate of recognition as achievers of Chevening by high commissioner Lindsay Skoll.

The programme, funded by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for study at postgraduate level was set up 1984.

 It has since awarded more than 30,000 scholarships worldwide, of which about 30 come from Seychelles.

High commissioner Skoll said that while it was customary to award two scholarships yearly from Seychelles, this has this year been split to benefit three from a range of professional activities.

 She said that the talents and potential of Wendy, Amanda and Romano have all been recognised.
 
She said she was sure that the three candidates selected have proven the motivation, will be good ambassadors of Seychelles and will bring their new skills back to their country.

Isnard, who leaves later this month, has been with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for almost two years and will be undertaking a one-year certificate course in diplomatic studies at Oxford University.
 
Press Attaché Hunt, who will be leaving in October and has already studied for several years at various learning institutions in the UK, will during two weeks gain more experience in government image and communication.
 
She told Nation she expects to meet officials of political parties and also get better acquainted with some media organisations, including the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).

Inspector Songor, who has been with the force for 12 years, will be the first to leave this weekend for a two-month course in international leadership under the National Policing Inspection Agency (NPIA) which has an international academy at Bramhill.
 
Last year’s Chevening scholar, assistant police commissioner Ted Barbé is still pursuing his MSc in criminology and criminal justice at the University of Portsmouth.

Patsy Moustache, who was studying for a certificate in diplomatic studies at Oxford University, is back in Seychelles.