Air Seychelles partners with technology institute |19 November 2013

Air Seychelles has signed a comprehensive partnership agreement with the Seychelles Institute of Technology (SIT), to facilitate the identification, training and recruitment of talented technicians for employment at the national airline.

The agreement was signed on Friday last week by Cramer Ball, Air Seychelles’ chief executive officer, and Jean Rassool, director of SIT, at a ceremony held at the SIT campus at Providence.

Under the terms of the partnership, Air Seychelles will provide support and opportunities for SIT students to actively take part in work attachment programmes in various ground services areas of the national airline under the supervision of Air Seychelles’ engineers and artisans who will identify potential for their further development within the airline.

Commenting on this agreement, Mr Ball said: “This MoU is such an important initiative both for the airline and for the SIT. It establishes a framework for future collaboration in the development of training and employment opportunities for young Seychellois school leavers with a passion and a desire to work in the aviation industry. While at Air Seychelles on their training programmes, the students will be well groomed and will be given all opportunities for career development. This MoU with SIT augurs well for the future development of our Seychellois workforce.”

Four graduates from the institute’s diploma and certificate courses will be recruited in January 2014, to take part in on-the-job training programmes that will lead to permanent employment within the airline.

Present to witness the MoU signing were representatives of the Ministry of Education and Air Seychelles as well as graduates from SIT presently employed with the national airline, staff and students of SIT.

Mr Rassool said: “The partnership with Air Seychelles is valued as strong support towards technical and vocational education in the country. It will provide the contact to fine tune our programmes to better meet the training needs and demand of the Industry.  The partnership will provide the opportunity for our potential graduates to secure employment in an organisation committed to their development and progress; it will indirectly create the competition among our good students to strive even harder.”

Air Seychelles currently employs a number of graduates from SIT, including the recently promoted Twin Otter Captain, Shiv Padayachy, who is currently flying on the domestic route. Mario DeSylva and Clifton Leon are currently undergoing training for the cadet engineering programme in Abu Dhabi, and Michael Agathine, a recent graduate of the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida, is currently working in the Air Seychelles engineering department.

97 per cent of the airline’s workforce is Seychellois - and Air Seychelles, in collaboration with its equity partner, Etihad Airways, currently offers a number of scholarship programmes for Seychellois trainees.

At present seven Seychellois nationals are enrolled on the cadet engineer programme, six in the graduate management programme, and two in the trainee cadet pilot programme.