Education and Human Resources Development Minister Jeanne Siméon meets head teachers |11 May 2018
Leave no student behind, says education minister
Minister Siméon (centre, photo top) speaking at yesterday’s meeting
“We should not leave any student behind if we want our schools to progress as a whole”.
Education and Human Resources Development (MEHRD) Minister Jeanne Siméon said this at the ministry’s head teachers’ meeting held at the Seychelles Trading Company (STC) conference room, yesterday morning.
Minister Siméon was conducting her first meeting with all primary and secondary school head teachers from Mahe, Praslin and La Digue since being appointed as the new minister for MEHRD. The meeting was organised in preparation for the start of the second school term on Monday May 14.
Also present were senior officials from the ministry and it was also a chance for the minister to meet and interact with the head teachers of the different schools since she left the ministry eight years ago. Minister Siméon had worked for 40 years in education prior to her ministerial appointment.
“Don’t look at the few who are doing very well as results are not only about the few who will excel but they are based on the performance of the school as a whole and we should work for the whole school. If you have four students who can’t write and at the end of the year two of them can write their names, this is seen as a great achievement. We need to empower every single student. We should not leave any students behind if we want our schools to progress as a whole,” said Minister Siméon, stressing that to achieve progress in education, the ministry, the schools and the different partners should work as a team.
Minister Siméon, who took up her office as Education Minister last week, said she was happy to be back. Being fresh in the office, she added she would not be making radical changes but would rather stick to the commended work plan of her predecessor, former Minister Joel Morgan and his team for the time being.
The minister noted she would add or make changes in relation to information and input gathered from the ongoing meetings with officials at the ministry and with that of the schools management from visits she will start soon.
On building a solid foundation base, Minister Siméon stressed that reading is most important, especially during the early years of primary schooling. She said that reading is the base to becoming educated and urged the primary school head teachers to develop reading strategies to encourage students to read more.
“Our vision is to empower the citizens through education and training so that they can continue with the development of Seychelles in the future and what we give or do for them, will reflect on the kind of society that we will have tomorrow,” she added, advising the head teachers to acknowledge the challenges they face and to seek strategic solutions.
She also encouraged them to give their best to raise the level of their schools and education in Seychelles.
The MEHRD is currently facing the challenge in the recruitment of teachers, especially locals, for both primary and secondary schools. There are about 70 vacancies available for teachers in different subjects in both primary and secondary schools. Most of the vacancies, this year, are being applied by teachers in Mauritius and Zambia, therefore the ministry is encouraging retired teachers to join the profession on a part time basis.
Apart from being presented with some structural changes in some departments, the head teachers learned of a new teacher management and development section and a new technical vocational education and training division.
Other topics on the agenda were budget preparation, interim teacher appraisal, performance and exam analysis, reports, éducation à la vie, security and obtaining a master’s in education leaders training among any other businesses.