‘Invest in yourselves, invest in your future,’ Minister Siméon tells teachers |10 August 2018
The meeting in progress
Education and Human Resources Development Minister Jeanne Siméon has called on the teachers and assistant teachers of the Anse Aux Pins and Au Cap primary schools to advance in their career by investing in themselves and in their future.
She also informed them of her ministry’s support along the way in order for them to achieve that.
Minister Siméon was addressing teachers and assistant teachers of these two schools in a meeting held on Wednesday afternoon at the Anse Aux Pins community centre.
The meeting came as a follow-up to her recent visit to the two schools since she became head of that ministry. As part of the visits, the minister then met the teachers and supporting staff to listen to their needs and concerns, find out the good things happening in their schools and to see how best the ministry can support them.
Accompanying the minister were other key officials of her ministry like early childhood, primary, secondary education principal secretary Dr Odile de Commarmond and her department’s director for early childhood and primary education Cyril Pillay as well as other heads of section.
The teachers expressed quite a number of concerns but also had suggestions on how to improve the teaching and learning process. Issues relating to the scheme of service which considers all category of teachers including long serving ones who do not hold a diploma; arts courses at certificate level and appraisals just to name a few were discussed.
In her replies, PS de Commarmond said quite a number of these concerns have already been addressed while the ministry is looking into others to assess whether they are feasible to be carried out.
As for Minister Siméon, she said: “We wish you advancement in your career. We want you to become a teacher if you are an assistant because you are already in the education and school environment. Therefore, it will be easier for you to follow a training course at the Seychelles Institute of Teacher Education (Site) if you have the necessary entry requirements. If not, the ministry will provide you with training courses at the Seychelles Institute of Distance and Open Learning (Sidol) where you can be upgraded academically so as to be allowed entry to Site.”
With regards to training being organised in partnership with Site, Mrs Siméon said over 200 supply teachers are undergoing training on a part-time basis two days per week at the institution.
She added that there are two categories of training – the ‘blended mode’ where teachers follow the training while in schools and the ‘distance mode’ where they can contact their tutors for the necessary support.
“The ministry can look into the possibility of providing extra support to such teachers like releasing them from daily school duties where possible so as to provide them more free time to study. After all we want them to succeed,” Minister Siméon added.
As for teacher assistants, the minister said training is also planned for them.
“We have already advised them that being a teacher assistant is not a lifetime career. You can go higher. We provide all the necessary support. But it needs a personal investment by the teachers themselves. If you want to train to become a teacher you need to make sacrifices,” she stressed.
Mrs Siméon also acknowledged some very positive projects being implemented by teachers in both their schools and communities.
“There are some good initiatives going on in our schools. Like working with parents in parenting classes, ongoing projects with school councils in the community, extra classes for children with learning difficulties, discussions at the Anse Aux Pins school on how to set up a support group for parents to come together and get support from other parents. Education is a shared responsibility,” she concluded.