New diploma programme for youths |17 May 2006

The two-year diploma programme is being funded partly by the Commonwealth Youth Programme and the government of Seychelles and will be delivered by the University of South Africa (Unisa) through its local partner institution Aldec (Adult Learning and Distance Education Centre).

The memorandum of understanding and subsequent financial agreement to launch the diploma programme in Seychelles were signed on Monday afternoon by the Minister for Education and Youth, Danny Faure, and the deputy director for Africa, Unisa, Kenneth Mubu.

The signing was done at the National Institute of Education in the presence of the Commonwealth programme manager for Youth Work, Education and Training, James Odit, and members of the Unisa delegation, officials from the Ministry of Education and Youth, the selected course participants and their tutors.

The Youth Work Development diploma will consist of 15 modules covering various aspects such as health, environment, sustainable development, gender, learning processes, among others.

Giving details about the diploma programme, Fiona Ernesta, the director of Aldec, said that the training will enable the youth workers to improve on their service delivery and come up with effective ways to help young people cope with all sorts of societal problems. 

Both the course candidates and their tutors, all Seychellois, are since yesterday attending a series of preparatory training workshops which Ms Ernesta said would better equip them to deliver and participate in the diploma programme.

The participants will in the first place attend “a recognition of prior learning” workshop to be followed by proficiency exams, two main hurdles that they need to pass to enrol on the diploma programme.

The workshops are being conducted by Unisa professors.

Ms Ernesta emphasised that the diploma is part of distance learning and not on-line, as the bulk of the course materials will be in print form and not electronic. However, she said students will be using the internet for research work or to access Unisa's on-line library and to contact, via email, support tutors from the university.

In his speech to launch the diploma programme, Minister Faure said it reflected the ministry's commitment to continue to put in place the necessary structures and mechanisms to enhance the delivery of distance learning courses. 
The Youth Department, he said, embarked on the Commonwealth Youth Programme in 2004 and following discussions with the head of the Regional Centre for Africa, Valencia Mogegeh, it decided that the diploma programme was the best way forward in providing the youth with increasing opportunities for self-development.

"This is concrete evidence of the dedication of all parties to collaborate in offering greater training opportunities to youth practitioners and youth workers," he said.

On his part, Mr Mubu said the signing was a manifestation of Unisa's commitment to work in partnership with other governments and people in Africa.

He said that the youth nowadays are faced with a lot of challenges such as unemployment, teenage pregnancies, HIV/Aids, among others but also have at hand more opportunities than their peers from previous generations, such as information technology.

He said he was convinced that the challenges could be turn into greater opportunities and that the youth could be entrusted with leadership roles if they were given the appropriate training.

Mr Odit announced that representatives from the Commonwealth Secretariat were expected to add their signatures to the agreement endorsed by Unisa and Seychelles, during next week's Commonwealth Ministers Summit to take place in the Bahamas.