Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) - Fifty-four students graduate |12 June 2018
Fifty-four S4 and S5 students who have followed the secondary school pre-vocational Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programme graduated on Friday.
During this sixth cohort graduation ceremony, held at the Seychelles Institute of Teacher Education (Site), the nine S4 and S5 students who showed devotion and who portrayed good attitudes towards the programme were presented with tokens of appreciation.
They are Ravin Valentin (Anse Boileau secondary), Ray Morel (Anse Royale), Wayne Moustache (Beau Vallon), Gervis Morel (Belonie), Michael Mutombo (English River), Alexander Bastienne (Mont Fleuri), Juan Françoise (Plaisance), Edward Estico (Pointe Larue) and Keren Bastienne (Praslin secondary).
The 54 students who have graduated have successfully completed the secondary school pre-vocational TVET porgramme in December 2017. The programme started in January 2016 with 91 participants. The students, who were posted in different professional centres and work places, received training in carpentry, masonry, mechanical engineering, plumbing, agriculture, horticulture, fisheries, arts, tourism, among others.
During the ceremony, three graduates were rewarded for their outstanding performance in the 2017 National Exam for English, French and Maths. From Mont Fleuri secondary school, Hamzah Jupiter scored 96% for French and from Praslin secondary school, Linza Suzette scored 72% for Maths and Keren Bastienne scored 69% for English.
A division within the Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development (MEHRD), the TVET programme is for students who have academic difficulties at school and for others who opt to be on the programme.
The programme provides the students with opportunities to acquire occupational skills, knowledge and attitudes, necessary to enter the world of world and also for their professional development.
In addition to the time they spend at school, the students get practical training for two to three days weekly at professional centres and in the industry as an integral component of the programme.
In his speech for the occasion, the director general for TVET, Jean Alcindor, said that since the introduction of the programme seven years ago, 579 students out of 830 have benefited from it and most have been employed, with some drop- outs and others in self-employment.
Mr Alcindor added that TVET division in collaboration with its key partners will institutionalise and operationalise the programme to ensure learner’s achievement continuity and the success of the work-base learning.
“This year our TVET programme has taken a new direction whereby our ministry is working very closely with the department of employment to put in place a structure work-base learning programme in collaboration with the industry to ensure that our students acquire relevant competences for employment,” he said, noting that the current and future work force of Seychelles depends a lot on the work-readiness of our youths which he added will be further boosted with the new TVET school to be constructed on Ile Soleil as announced by President Danny Faure in his State-of-the-nation address earlier this year.
Mr Alcindor congratulated the students and wished them good luck in their future endeavours.
Present at the graduation ceremony were high officials from the MEHRD, sponsors, parents and other invitees.
Graduate Linza Suzette, who started her training at the Oasis hotel on Praslin and is now working as a waitress at Constance Lemuria, said her educational journey had been great with some ups and downs but her determination and encouragement from her family had helped her finish the programme.
“The programme has not only groomed me academically and professionally but I have also developed social attributes needed to become a skillful young adult,” she said while urging other young students not to shy away from the programme.
Hamzah Jupiter, who started his training at the Seychelles Maritime Academy (SMA) and later moved to Skychef catering at the Seychelles International Airport, said he enjoyed the programme but his dream is to work on a fishing vessel as a fisherman.
Mr Alcindor stated that counselling of the students will be one of the new features of TVET.
To justify his point, Mr Alcindor took Jupiter’s case as an example who he said wants to be a fisherman but wouldn’t like to be reinstated at SMA if awarded the possibility.
