UniSey offers wide range of new courses

 Seychelles Nation - 11.12.2009
The new degree courses to be offered by the University of Seychelles (UniSey) next year have been presented to post-secondary students at a meeting.

These courses were explained by the university’s vice-chancellor Dr Rolph Payet recently at the UniSey campus auditorium, Anse Royale.

Dr Payet said UniSey is ready to offer the new programme, which will start in September next year and give post-secondary students from the School of Advanced Level Studies (Sals) and the Seychelles Institute of Technology (SIT) more options.

He said there will be a new degree programme in the Faculty of Humanities, which will include courses in banking and finance, and economics and finance.

These courses will be run in partnership with the London School of Economics, and they are targeting students who have gained very good grades at A-level, Dr Payet added.

He said degree courses in English, history, geography and the environment for teachers and others are also on offer.
Dr Payet said the university will start new courses in the field of tourism, but they are still negotiating on these with the Seychelles Tourism Board (STB) and more details will be given later.

They will include degrees in business administration and tourism management, to be conducted in partnership with the University of London.

He said the Faculty of Science will introduce a degree course in law to meet current demand, and the university will discuss this with the judiciary.

Dr Payet also said there are part-time courses in computing and IT at diploma and degree level next year for technicians who are not able to attend full-time classes.

“We have managed to make some progress since the start of the university this year, and we have enough lecturers and capacity to run the new courses,” said Dr Payet.

He added that the faculty will soon meet S5 students to present the courses to them so they have a better idea of what the university has to offer.

UniSey is now offering foundation studies, bachelor of business administration degrees with final year specialisation in marketing, international business, human resources management or business management, and degree courses in computing and information systems.

UniSey gets 54 scholarships and new website

Seychelles Nation - 07.12.2009
The University of Seychelles (UniSey) has been given 54 scholarships, nine by private organisations and 45 by the government.

Christian Cafrine, chief executive of the National Human Resources Development Council, and the university’s vice-chancellor Dr Rolph Payet signed a memorandum of understanding for the scholarships on Friday when Dr Payet also launched UniSey’s website: www.unisey.ac.sc

Among those who witnessed the signing and the launch at the National Institute of Education were Education Minister Bernard Shamlaye and members of the university’s board, its deans of faculties, students and their parents and representatives of the sponsors.

Dr Payet said the first ever UniSey students are about to finish their first term and “in three years’ time we will have the very first graduates from the university”.

He said the value of UniSey to the economy of Seychelles is starting to show, and the university is generating interest from different quarters including the private sector, which came up with the nine scholarships.

Dr Payet said he hopes for a total of 20 next year and noted that the university will grow when the School of Education is launched.

“In a couple of years we should be welcoming students from beyond our shores,” he said.

Efforts will continue to ensure the best level of education at the university – which has a partnership with the University of London – as steps are taken to see it gets its own buildings, he said.

He urged the students to take their studies seriously, reminding them that the three years will be a short but important period.