First International Biennial Conference on Early Childhood Care and Education (February 16 – 18, 2017) |25 February 2017

Thank you!

The country’s drive towards excellence in Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) has been acknowledged and commended by the UNESCO’s International Bureau of Education, the World Bank and the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA). In the last biennial conference in 2015, it was recommended that Seychelles strengthens its partnership with UNESCO and reaffirms its leadership role by becoming a best practice hub in the provision of high quality ECCE services. This First International Biennial Conference on Early Childhood Care and Education, which was held from February 16 – 18, 2017, is a realisation of the national and international drive which has been generated to bring people together to share knowledge and experiences and to officially designate Seychelles as a UNESCO-IBE Best Practice Hub for ECCE.

Fifty-two participants converged to Seychelles from 19 countries in the five continents globally namely; Australia, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Botswana, Cameroon, Canada, Egypt, Gabon, Georgia, Italy, India, Oman, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and the United States of America. The conference served as a platform to share experiences of ECCE in Seychelles as a model of best practice; share international knowledge and practices in ECCE; promote peer learning in ECCE provision and service delivery and launch the Seychelles/UNESCO-IBE Best Practice Hub for ECCE.

Thank you message:

The chairperson and members of the National Conference Committee would like to convey their heartiest thanks and warm gratitude to the Government of Seychelles and the UNESCO-IBE, in particular Dr Mmantsetsa Marope, the Director of IBE, for their unwavering support and assistance to successfully realise the First International Biennial Conference on ECCE in Seychelles. Special thanks go to all International renowned speakers and experts for their brilliant presentations, overseas and local delegates for their engagement and participation.

The conference and side events would not have been possible without the commitment, diligent and hard work of the organising committees in the main ECCE sectors. Our sincere gratitude goes to the Institute of Early Childhood Development and its Board of Directors, Ministry of Health and Social Affairs, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Local Government, the National ECCE Trust Fund and the Seychelles Youth Council.

Our whole-hearted thanks also go to our partners: The Seychelles NATION and Seychelles Broadcasting Corporation (SBC); both television and ‘Radyo Sesel’ for their relentless support and assistance to bring information about the conference to the population and continuously keeping them informed throughout the conference.  We are also particularly pleased with the contributions of the other key partners from the private sector namely: Seychelles Trading Company and the Construction industry – Vijay Construction and Sahajanand Construction, which have all pledged their support and commitment during the conference to support early childhood development. Thank you very much for your generosity.

We wish to commend all those who have contributed towards the success of this conference and reiterate our call for all parties to work together for a strong and winning start for children in Seychelles.