Rila group donates costumes to Mont Fleuri primary school |20 September 2017

Primary students from Mont Fleuri have benefitted from a donation of costumes which will be used for the upcoming carnival as part of the Creole Festival activities.

This happened following the signing on Monday of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the principal secretary (PS) for education Dr Odile De Comarmond and the chief executive of Rila Group of UK Georgina Dhillon.

The MoU makes provision for the Rila Group to cooperate with the Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development in the educational and cultural fields.

Rila Group has already donated books to the Mont Fleuri primary school library and it will be making a donation of computer sets soon.

It is also looking in the possibility to sponsor Hall of Fames to all 34 schools to motivate both students and teachers to work hard at school where school trophies and frames will be given to promote best students and best teachers of the year at school.

The Rila Group will also cooperate with the ministry in organising poem and story competitions to encourage students to develop their writing skills. These stories and poems will then be published by the Rila Group.

It will also develop online courses for teachers at the request of the ministry.

The Walt Disney themed costumes were handed over to the head teacher Steve Hoareau by Mrs Dhillon.

Rila Group has always devoted itself to training and development which started in the industry and commerce sector and then moved on to the medical training which is now the wider part of the company.

Mrs Dhillon, who is a proud Seychellois, felt the area she could most support would be education as it has continuity and growth.

“I feel I could work embryonically with the school in terms of training and development so therefore I looked at how we could move in technology,” she said.

She said she will always take advice from the school to bring what they feel is good for them, rather than impose.

“I hope that when the pupils wear these costumes such as the Little Red Riding Hood they then want to read the book which the character is related to and this will get them more engaged in reading,” she said.

Mr Hoareau expressed his gratitude to Mrs Dhillon and the Rila Group for the generous gesture and hopes for this partnership to be strengthened in the future.

He noted that the costumes will be used in other events of the Creole Festival as well and contribute to implement performing arts in the curriculum.