Seychelles Nation - 29.01.2010
Members of the body responsible for developing human resources have been appointed by President James Michel for a period of three years, with effect from November last year.
Chairperson of the National Human Resources Development Council (NHRDC) board is Marina Confait – also principal secretary for employment and human resources development – who joined the other members for their first meeting at National House yesterday.
Dr Rolph Payet, vice-chancellor of the University of Seychelles (UniSey), is the new vice- chairman, and among other members – representing the civil service and private sector – are the NHRDC’s chief executive Christian Cafrine, principal secretary for education Jeanne Simeon and for public administration Jessie Esparon.
Also on the board are Michael Benstrong from the Seychelles Savings Bank, Eric Savy from the Ephelia Resort, Jean Malbrook representing the Federation of Workers Union, Cyril Bonnelame from United Concrete Products Seychelles and Jennifer Sinon representing the Seychelles Hospitality and Tourism Association.
Jill Tirant from the NHRDC is the board’s secretary.
Chairing the meeting, Mrs Confait said there are many challenges ahead but a lot of work has been done since the council was established by its own Act in June 2006.
She said it is good to have people from different backgrounds and with different skills on the board as the NHRDC is the focal point for the country’s human resources development.
“We are faced with a lot of challenges in regard to human resources development, education, training and the employment perspective,” she said.
She added that at the moment most jobseekers are school drop-outs or people who have not gone on to post-secondary education.
“These people do not have the required skills, so we are retraining and reskilling them as a temporary measure,” said Mrs Confait.
The council hopes to bridge this gap and be able to respond to the needs of the labour market, she added.
Expatriate employment has now reached just over 9,000, which is not good for a country with jobseekers, Mrs Confait said. As at September last year there were 246 expatriates in the public service and 94 in parastatal bodies.
Talking about human resources availability at national level, Mr Cafrine said with our small population we have a limited group of people who can be employed and who have the required skills.
We can train many people here, but in specialised domains we have to send them abroad, he explained. And in certain areas we still need expatriates until they can be replaced by Seychellois.
Mr Cafrine said although they can train people for a job, there is sometimes no one who is interested, which is a problem.
“We need to find ways to get people interested in fields such as the manufacturing sector,” he said.
And Seychellois are also needed to work at the Indian Ocean Tuna factory, which has a high number of expatriates, he added.
“We hope with UniSey we can train more people, but there is always a need for expatriates as there are many Seychellois who go overseas to work,” said Mr Cafrine.
But he added that education reforms can help to reduce the human resources problem as they have taken the national plan and the socio-economic situation into account in deciding what kind of skilled people we need.
“Gradually, education can become more effective in preparing students for employment,” he said.
Mr Cafrine also called on employers to play their part and produce a conducive working environment to help keep their employees and encourage other people to work.
