Scouting to become compulsory in local schools |30 November 2004

 
Assistant regional director of the World Scout Bureau of Africa, Oliver Wandi, who has been here for the past week, has trained people from a variety of backgrounds to become scout leaders from the African continent and Indian Ocean countries.

Mr Wandi has been offering his expertise for three consecutive years and though this is his first visit to Seychelles, he hopes to make annual trips after the completion of the four-year strategic plan for Seychelles to help the youth develop.

“The most important thing is that the government and the President of Seychelles are giving us a lot of support,” he said.

He added that a recent visit to the minister of education and youth Danny Faure and principal secretary for education and Youth had resulted in positive steps towards adopting scouting and that circulars are currently being sent to teachers of schools around the country encouraging them to participate in the training.

Mr Wandi suggested that he would like “schools to incorporate scouting and make it compulsory. It’s my desire and conviction to train teachers in order to facilitate scouting.”

Mainly teachers are currently being targeted for the training due to the nature of their job, which goes hand in hand with communicating scouting ethics to the youth, he added.
 
He said that it is up to the teachers how they go about holding meetings, whether they form after-school clubs or if they chose to move away from school activities entirely. “It’s their outlook, but it must happen,” he said.

Mr Wandi hopes to return in June next year to train the teachers, also hoping to target the Polytechnic and Seychelles Institute of Management staff.

Once in operation, the scouting activities will involve youths ranging from six to 30 years of age.

Judges and members of the police and armed forces are among the most active scouts in Seychelles, Mr Wandi said. “We are trying to get leaders from every angle,” he said.

“Scouting is the key for their (the youths’) survival – much more so for a country like Seychelles with a population of around 80,000,” he suggested. “Our job is to equip you (the public) with the power to help them (the youths) change.”

Mr Wandi visited Mauritius in September this year and has traveled to other countries such as Comoros and Madagascar.

He suggested that African and Indian Ocean region nations “have had remarkable improvement in terms of academics and discipline,” he said, “we have the ability to help this country and it’s youth”.