Anse Etoile primary school goes solar |21 October 2017

As part of the Solar School Programme (SSP), the Anse Etoile primary school will be powered by solar panels, which will also help to reduce its electricity bills.

The eco-friendly clean energy campus will be acquainted with latest technologies, making it fit for taking up the future energy challenges, also being the first government school on Mahé to benefit from such project.

The school spends around R30,000 in electricity bills; by having solar panels, it will make a saving around R15,000.

The launch of the solar panel took place at the school yesterday morning, in the presence of the Minister for Environment, Energy and Climate Change (MEECC) Didier Dogley, the special advisor in the Ministry of Education (MoE) Merida Delcy, donors and organisations which have made the initiate possible, key partners along with parents, staff and students of the school that will be benefiting from the PV system.

To make such colossal project a success many organisations have contributed towards the PV system such as the MoE, Seychelles Energy Commission (SEC), PTA of Anse Etoile school, Public Utilities Corporation (PUC), also with donations from Cable and Wireless (CWS), the Mauritius Commercial Bank (MCB) and the Seychelles Civil Aviation Authority (SCAA) as part of their corporate social responsibility (SCR).

Launching the PV system at the school, Minister Dogley stated that the Anse Etoile primary school is the first eco-friendly government school on Mahé.

“Twenty years ago, we started a programme called eco-school to educate the students about protecting the environment.  But we also wanted to tackle the issue of climate change in our country; Seychelles depends a lot on fossil fuel to produce energy. So it is vital we invest money in renewable energy, and prevent waste. We already launched the project on La Digue and Praslin, and we hope by the end of next year all 35 schools have their own solar panel, with the help of a company from China,” the minister said.

The SSP is part of a bigger government initiative by the SEC, in collaboration with MEECC, PUC, and MoE whose target is to have solar PV systems installed at all the 35 schools located on the islands of Mahé, Praslin and La Digue.

The minister added that starting from next year the month of October will be dedicated to Sustainable Energy.

The head teacher of the school Daniella Antat added that the Anse Etoile primary school has come a long way with regard to environmental education.

“Our school has come a long way with regard to environmental education which is now strongly embedded in our curriculum. It has become our way of school life and we are proud to say that we are the champion school where the environment is concerned. We started small, participating very well and winning prizes for most of the competitions organised,” she said.

She also pointed out that the students also benefit from enhancing their knowledge on keeping our environment clean.

“We have all the way been empowering our student population on the necessity of living healthily in hazard free environment and we are continually sensitising all on the benefits of a clean environment. We have reached the point where we have proven to all that we are now ready to move to greater heights, with the self-governance policy coming up we will be moving on to do much more in the same context,” she said.

In her closing remarks Mrs Delcy stated that we live in a time where energy demand is rising globally including Seychelles.

“The challenges of meeting the rising energy needs in the decades ahead, of assuring that the resources are available on a sustainable basis to support a growing world. I am confident that the Anse Etoile school, one of Seychelles’ most outstanding eco-schools, will do its utmost to raise awareness on the solar PV system in place, with the support from local energy specialists,” she said.

Such project began in 2015, with the La Digue sustainable project, that includes a 5KW and 3KW PV installation donated under the GOS-UNDP-GEF PV project and private supplier respectively, followed by three schools on Praslin supported by the Seychelles Islands Foundation (SIF) and the Environmental Trust Fund (ETF). Subsequently, the initiative is planned to be extended to all other schools on Mahé. The solar PV system installed on the roof of the school was funded by three organisations namely, CWS, MCB and SCAA.