New institution replaces College of the Arts |03 February 2005

The  National Conservatoire of Performing Arts, which will comprise the School of Dance, School of Music and School of Drama, will be administered by the Ministry of Local Government, Sports and Culture.

The School of Visual Arts, previously part of the College, will be transferred to the Ministry of Education and Youth and incorporated as a programme area at the Seychelles Polytechnic.

The National Conservatoire of Performing Arts will continue to offer part-time courses for students and members of the public of different ages, whereas the Visual Arts programme area will take in full-time students from Secondary 5 and the criteria for their selection will be similar to those applied for other Polytechnic courses.

Mrs Dora Ernesta, who was previously the head teacher at Plaisance Secondary School, has been appointed as the Head of Programme for Visual Arts.  60 students have this year enrolled in the three Visual Arts courses being offered, namely graphic design, fashion and fine art. The duration of the courses varies from two to three years.

Giving details to the press about these changes, Mrs Anne Lafortune, the director general for Technical and Further Education, said that the Seychelles Polytechnic would however administer the new programme area from the existing facility at Mont Fleuri and that the students would at the moment keep their present uniforms. A change in uniforms is expected to be done by 2006.

The section responsible for studies in the ministry, she said, would decide eventually about other changes that could be done to improve this programme area, for instance updating courses to meet culture requirements and finding out how best to apply the competency-based approach in the design of the courses to ensure consistency with other Polytechnic programme areas.

The Seychelles Polytechnic, Mrs Lafortune said, would be working closely with the National Conservatoire of Performing Arts, as most of the students enrolled in the Visual Arts courses were involved in activities organised by the Culture Department.

The changes, she said, form part of the transfer of all post-secondary institutions to the Ministry of Education and Youth, as announced by President James Michel in the budget address in December.

She explained that the National College of the Arts cannot be transferred in its entirety because it also offers part-time courses for performing arts, hence necessitating the changes (split).

Post-secondary institutions which have been transferred to the Education ministry include the National Institute of Health and Social Studies (NIHSS), the Seychelles Hospitality and Tourism Training College (SHTTC), the Maritime Training Centre (MTC) and the Farmer's Training Centre (FTC).