First international biennal conference on Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) launched |17 February 2017

Seychelles recognised as best practice hub for ECCE

 Seychelles has been formally recognised as a Unesco-IBE best practice hub for early childhood care and education (ECCE).

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) to that effect was signed yesterday between designated Minister Macsuzy Mondon and Dr Mmatsetsa Marope, director International Bureau of Education (IBE) Council.

This took place during the opening ceremony of the first international ECCE biennal conference yesterday afternoon at the Eden Bleu Hotel under the theme ‘Building resilient early childhood care and education system: Lessons of experience’.

Present at the event were President Danny Faure, Vice-President Vincent Meriton, ministers, members of the diplomatic corps, international experts and partners, among other distinguished guests.

In his opening remarks, Vice-President Meriton told the experts that “we look forward to learning from your expertise as we share our different experiences in ECCE during the next 2 days”.

“We have a remarkable story to share. It is a story of change and progress, of development and growth, of mistakes and challenges and of lessons learnt. At the core of this story is the Seychellois people,” he said.

He said we believe in ECCE because in our current development context it is the best option that we can give our children.

“The leaders of this country have always put children at the top of the development agenda,” he said.

VP Meriton highlighted former President Albert Rene’s work and that of his successor, President James  Michel, as well as the current President Danny Faure who also recognises the value of children.

“Early Childhood Care and Education is the key to enhancing quality education and well-being,” he added.

He said President Faure has been actively spearheading this movement from the moment he addressed the first Unesco World Conference in Moscow in 2010.

VP Meriton highlighted the numerous post-Moscow achievements including the setting up of the National ECCE Trust Fund, the launching of a National Framework on ECCE in 2011 and the establishment of the Institute of Early Childhood Development (IECD) in 2012. 

“We still have a long way to go. This International Conference is another significant step in our journey. We are on the right track. While ECCE may not offer all the answers; it can be part of the solution,” he said.

He said we must be focused, we must renew our determination and we must remain committed because it is our responsibility to ensure that every Seychellois child starts life in the best possible conditions.

VP Meriton also echoed the President’s message to the children enunciated just 3 days ago during his State-of-the-nation address.

He expressed his appreciation to the outgoing chairperson of the High Level ECCE Committee, President Faure, and welcomed the incoming chair designated Minister Mondon.

Welcoming remarks were led by the chief executive officer of IECD Shirley Choppy, followed by a key note address from Dr Marope, who highlighted the theme of the conference.
“Whether we have the systems, services do not deliver themselves, there has to be an organised delivery system that delivers those services,” she said.

She said you find ECCE services are poor in countries that are otherwise rich.

“ECCE is often a poor sector in rich countries and this is something that needs urgent attention,” she said.

Dr Marope said Seychelles does not have a perfect ECCE system.

“Seychelles is on a clear definitive and decisive way to resilience in ECCE system. Resilience generally just means the power to bounce back after devastation, an adverse or unexpected encounter. But resilience also means something which is robust, sane power and unbreakable […] Seychelles has that sane power,” she said.

She also highlighted the key enablers and factors of the best practices for ECCE systems.

The Minister for Education and Human Resource Development Joel Morgan launched Seychelles as a UNESCO-IBE best practice hub for ECCE, followed by the signing of the MoU between designated Minister Mondon and Dr Marope to formalise the designation.

Dr Marope presented Minister Mondon and Mrs Choppy with a plaque recognising Seychelles as the best practice hub.

A video message from Unesco director general (DG) Irina Bokova was shown and in between the programme short cultural presentations were led by children who demonstrated their talents through poems, songs and dance performances.

This conference is seeing the participation of 18 countries across the world.

Some of the performances by children during the ceremony