Major reforms in education set for next year |16 January 2009

He was speaking at a meeting at State House of the National Education Review Committee, of which he is chairman. It was set up last August to assess recommendations and advise on the action plan to achieve high-quality education and human resource development.

The committee yesterday presented the progress of its work, which included reviewing the findings and recommendations of Irish educational expert Dr John Nolan and receiving contributions from stakeholders and members of the public.

President Michel said there is now a clear way forward. The first priority is to restructure and downsize the education headquarters, which will include shifting the majority of qualified teachers to the schools.

Another priority is to reform the structure and curriculum of secondary schools.
Stakeholders will also address the social ills that are affecting Seychellois schoolchildren in their learning.

President Michel has asked the Ministry of Education to set up an oversight committee to drive the reform process. He described the committee’s work as “only a first step”.

“We will have to redouble our efforts to ensure that we can take our educational system to the next level,” he said.
“We do not have a lot of time and I want all major reforms to be in place for implementation in January 2010.”

The President thanked the members of the reform committee for finding the time to discuss, evaluate and make contributions “so that we can improve the quality of education in Seychelles”.