Ninety-four freshers join UniSey

Seychelles Nation - 22.09.2010
A new batch of 94 undergraduates have joined the University of Seychelles (UniSey) and were welcomed at their induction yesterday.

The ceremony, which coincided with the first anniversary of the university’s launch, took place at the School of Education.

It was attended by chief justice Fredrick Egonda-Ntende; Education, Employment and Human Resources Minister Macsuzy Mondon; and youth and sports principal secretary Denis Rose.

Also present were the president and vice-chancellor of UniSey Dr Rolph Payet, members of the board of governors, attorney-general Ronny Govinden, senior government officials and other guests.

Management and staff of the School of Education, as well as lecturers and students were also there.

In his address Dr Payet said with a total of over 300 students UniSey is proud to welcome its 94 freshmen for this new academic year 2010-2011.

“When we embarked on this historic journey we had a shipful of only 53 students,” he said.
And today, one year later, the students speak of their challenges and hardships but also the good times and the determination they all wear – like proud smiles, he said.

He added that the faculty, students and supporters of UniSey should be proud to share in the vision of President James Michel to create a modern and forward-looking Seychelles.

Dr Payet also spoke about a series of new programmes which include both undergraduate and master’s degreees for part-time students.

And he mentioned new facilities such as UniSey’s investment in a scalable – expandable – computer network at a cost of R1.2 million, contracted to Victoria Computer Services.

The new information technology (IT) system will serve both campuses and is now connected by fibre-optic cable to the Cable & Wireless direct uplink for fast internet connection. Wi-fi hotspots are being installed on both campuses.

“Our main aim is to become the first institution in Seychelles to become fibre-optic ready, once Seychelles has its submarine fibre-optic connection,” said Dr Payet.

He added that one year on, the faculty and students are proud of their achievements, and their exam results are very promising.

Dr Payet said 10 degrees have been introduced for this new academic year, including geography, law, banking, economics and environment – and a surprising number of applicants were interested in the law course.

Since the launch of the university there has been a complete refurbishment of the front wing of the ex-Seychelles Polytechnic at Anse Royale.

“We have 21 lecture rooms ready for formal courses to start at the beginning of October,” said Dr Payet.

The total cost of renovation work on the building now housing UniSey – carried out by the China State Construction Company – is about R12 million, entirely funded by the government of Seychelles. And UniSey has invested around R1 million in books which are essential for the students and lecturers.

Dr Payet wished the students all the best in their new academic year, and the event was also marked by blessings by representatives of the catholic and anglican churches, as well as songs and reflections by members of the faculty.

The induction for freshers will go on until October 1; formal classes are expected to start on October 4 and will go on until the exams next May.

UniSey offers much wider range of courses

Seychelles Nation - 18.09.2010
Students following higher education at the University of Seychelles (UniSey) can now
choose from a wider range of undergraduate courses.

This follows the introduction of 11 new high-quality courses in fields such as economics, law, environment, geography, education, banking, finance and tourism.

UniSey started offering a bachelor’s degree programme in the field of business administration and in computing and information systems in September 2009.

All the courses are being run in partnership with universities abroad, such as the University of London (UK), University of Edith Cowan (Australia) and the

Université de Paris I – Panthéon Sorbonne (France).

UniSey has also increased its student base from 53 students in September 2009 to well over 300 (including students studying at the School of Education). The total number of students includes 94 freshmen enrolled on degree and diploma courses.

The new university term starts on Tuesday September 21.

UniSey and STA sign accord for joint benefit

Seychelles Nation - 07.08.2010
The University of Seychelles (UniSey) and the Seychelles Tourism Academy (STA) have signed an agreement on training and sharing their facilities.

The memorandum of understanding was signed yesterday by STA principal Flavien Joubert and UniSey vice-chancellor Dr Rolph Payet.
Present at the ceremony were guests including Minister for Foreign Affairs Jean-Paul Adam, secretary of state in the President’s office Barry Faure, and representatives of Ireland-based Shannon College and the Seychelles Tourism Board.

Mr Joubert and Dr Payet toasted the new partnership immediately after the signing, before the latter congratulated the efforts of the STA in introducing its advanced diploma courses and opportunities to progress towards degree-level studies.

“I do recognise the tireless efforts the STA has made, and continues to make, to ensure that our tourism service excels at all levels,” he said.

“With the establishment of UniSey, we are now ready to make our contribution to this most important endeavour – of empowering our people to manage the tourism industry at all levels.”

Mr Joubert explained that the MoU covers several aspects beneficial to both sides. After completing their courses, students will be proficient in fields such as marketing, human resources management, service development, hotel management, tour operating and airlines.

“The MoU covers the degree course the students will be doing at Shannon College, so they will now be able to choose between UniSey and Shannon College,” he said.

“There will also be an exchange of students and lecturers, such as UniSey providing teachers in finance, marketing, statistics and human resources while we give them our specialists in, for example, housekeeping, restaurant and bar work, and food preparation, as well as sharing facilities such as libraries and equipment.”

Dr Payet said the new degree programme to be launched next month is unique globally, in that it has brought together three universities to deliver an intensive four-year programme aimed at training the tourism executives and managers of tomorrow.

Ministry hopes Seychelles joins WTO soon

Seychelles Nation - 08.06.2010
It is crucial that Seychelles joins the World Trade Organisation (WTO) soon, given that the current negotiating climate is more favourable to small and vulnerable economies.

Mr Afif launching the sessions yesterday

Principal secretary for finance Ahmed Afif said this yesterday as he launched a series of sessions aimed at helping key people understand how the trade body works.

Principal secretaries, chief executives and University of Seychelles lecturers attended a briefing session at the university’s School of Education in the morning, and members of the National Assembly another in the afternoon. Ministers are due to attend one tomorrow at Liberty House.

Mr Afif said the Ministry of Finance “is under no illusion there will not be some form of negative effect as a result of WTO accession”, but he listed a number of advantages of joining.

“Seychelles will have made its case to a large number of countries who have an agreed set of procedures and rules, and we will therefore be able to present ourselves as a WTO-compatible country,” he said.

“Investors would have a more clearly defined environment in which they would operate and be better able to assess the merits or demerits of investing or operating in Seychelles.

“However, certain sectors or groups of people in the country might find themselves in some difficulties if planning the migration from not being a member to being one is not done carefully.”

Mr Afif said joining the WTO might bring more competition in the face of new rules, and local production sectors – particularly those involved in import substitution or the services sector – will need time and information to manoeuvre so they are able to face the new environment.

He noted that the launch of the sessions coincided with the opening of a WTO reference centre.

Mr Afif said “hard decisions will have to be made and the current regulatory framework governing sectors will have to be revised to ensure compliance with WTO rules”.

He said the WTO is the only multilateral organisation that deals directly with international trade and is the guardian of the other multilateral trade-related agreements.

“It has been generally agreed that these agreements have been able to mitigate against the impact of the global financial crisis,” he said.

He said, for example, that if we had been part of the WTO we could have had an avenue to redress more quickly the swordfish export ban we suffered in 2004.

“The commitment of the Ministry of Finance is that we will guide the process through the national working group to negotiate the best possible deal for Seychelles,” said Mr Afif.

“In doing so, the negotiating strategy will be phased liberalisation of various sectors of the economy, at the same time seeking to protect sectors that are much more vulnerable to foreign competition.

“This is all in the spirit of mitigating the negative impacts of Seychelles’ accession.”

He called on everyone to help get the best possible result, adding that membership of the WTO will have an effect on everyone.

Among those who gave presentations were Edwini Kessie and Cherif Mondher of the WTO.