43 graduate at SIM |08 September 2007

Association of Chartered and Certified Accountants (ACCA) graduate Pedro Pierre scooped the President’s Award for good performance and overall exemplary behaviour, as former Diploma in Management student Christine Joubert was declared best overall student on account of her academic grades.

Karen Balthilde was awarded for becoming the best certificate student in general management as ACCA Professional Part I graduate Jeanne Strong got the award in her cohort, while Marilyn Jean-Louis and Marie Larue Low shared the ACCA Professional Part II prize.

ACCA Foundation’s prize went to Natalie Pillay, while Alvin Robert was rewarded for being best student in the SEnPA Entrepreneurial Skills course for this year, as Thomas Denis got a similar award for successfully following the same course last year.

Daniel Adrienne, who works at the SIM, received his own recognition and loudest applause from the audience when President Michel requested the “local Pavarotti,” to give the audience “one more” opera performance, just before the ceremony closed.

In her speech, which was illustrated by a powerpoint presentation, the SIM’s chief executive officer, Daniella Larue, told the graduates that they are starting out at a very exciting time in Seychelles’ development, at the advent of Strategy 2017, when the public sector-wide restructuring focusing on improving service delivery is being done, and President Michel’s pronouncement of the creation of a knowledge-based society and the recent setting up of the Seychelles University, all of which she said are shaping organisations’ recruitment decisions. 

“It means that increasingly, organizations are going to look for people and especially managers who are able to add value. They are going to look for well trained people, failing this, trainable people, people who can learn fast and who have learnt how to learn,” she said, adding that the same factors are shaping future developments at the SIM too.

Mrs Larue said that this year SIM made history by offering tuition for ACCA level III modules, explaining that with the ACCA structure, Parts I and II are at degree level and III is at Masters level.

“With the exception of Singapore, we are the only other institution in the Indian Ocean region to offer this,” she said.

The CEO also said that in 2008, SIM will diversify and offer diploma programmes in human resource, tourism management and tourism marketing, and a number of certificate courses as well as induction training for people entering the public service and
a diploma course for those aspiring to work as district administrators.
Seychelles Nation hopes to publish further details of the SIM’s plans and challenges soon.