Alumni to join together on Itec day |12 October 2017
The High Commission of India in Seychelles is organising the ITEC Day 2017 today starting at 6pm in room 1 at the International Conference Centre of Seychelles.
The Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (Itec) programme is the flagship capacity building programme of government of India, training thousands of officials from Africa, Asia and South America in India every year.
In Seychelles over 1,000 Seychellois officials, that is more than one per cent of Seychelles total population, have benefited from the fully-funded Itec training courses for which return airfares, full local hospitality and training fees are paid by the government of India.
For the year April 2017 to March 2018, the government of India has increased the allotment to 45 Itec slots for Seychelles from 20 in previous year. So far this year, 13 Seychelles candidates have gone to India and successfully completed Itec training courses.
These training courses are selected with focus on increasing the capability of foreign officials in diverse fields, so that the recipient country benefits from the new and increased skills and capabilities of its officials.
The Itec programme offers courses in administration, infotech, auditing, accounting, expert courses in agriculture, marketing, advanced medical courses for doctors; machinery handling, leadership & management, entrepreneurship skills, disaster management etc. , as well as military training courses for both officers and personnel.
Details of all courses offered by government of India are available at the link: https://www.itecgoi.in/coursecal.php. The link also guides applicants to fill up online application procedure.
For African countries including Seychelles, the government of India runs an additional capacity training programme called India-Africa Forum Summit (IAFS). The government of India also offers nine educational Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) scholarships to Seychelles students that covers almost all expenses such as airfare, hostel fee, college fee.
The Itec Day organised by the High Commission is an opportunity for the Itec/IAFS/ICCR and alumni of Seychelles to meet each other. Some of the Itec alumni include top officials of the government of Seychelles. Both the former Commissioner of Police Reginald Elizabeth and the new Police Commissioner Kishnan Labonte together attended the same police training course in India. The function offers a feedback opportunity for Itec alumni which would help further improving the course contents and introduce new courses.
An open invitation has been issued for all Seychelles citizens who were trained in India under the Itec/IAFS/ICCR to attend the Itec Day celebrations followed by a reception at ICCS today.
It is expected that over 200 alumni and Seychelles government dignitaries are expected to attend the function.
Ambassador Claude Morel, Foreign Secretary in the Department of Foreign Affairs, will be the chief guest at the function hosted by Dr Ausaf Sayeed, High Commissioner of India.