En Moman Avek Prezidan
31.08.2009
Key to progress is empowerment of all our people
Reforming our education system, setting up our own university and creating opportunities for young people to develop themselves in all aspects of their lives all form part of a national drive that will allow the Seychellois people to be masters of their own destiny.
President James Michel said this while talking during the programme En Moman Avek Prezidan aired on SBC television last night.
This is a monthly programme in which the head of state speaks about issues of national importance, and this month’s theme focused on the subject of “empowerment” of the Seychellois people.
Describing “empowerment” as the key to a nation’s development, Mr Michel said it is a modern way of describing the development of a person so he can take responsibility for his own life.
Noting that our education system over the past 30 years has helped us to empower our people, Mr Michel said today’s world dictates that we look beyond the realm of basic education and find ways to make people more responsible for their own lives, and for the way they do things, so they can contribute to the country’s development.
Referring to the reforms taking place in our education system, Mr Michel said there is a need not only to enhance its quality but also see how we can give more skills to our youths in different jobs. This will mean they are empowered not only to develop themselves and earn their living but also to help develop the country.
This, he said, will entail a review of the vocational aspect of our education so it can fit in well with the economic and social systems we are developing.
And the setting-up of our own university will be another step forward in the process of raising our young people to a higher level, he added.
He said when he put forward the idea of founding our own university, even though some people were sceptical, he was convinced that Seychelles, although a small country, boasts people with immense potential.
The university will allow as many Seychellois as possible to get the necessary training so they can seize opportunities arising from the social and economic development that our country is going through, he added.
Mr Michel, however, noted that empowerment is not only about giving people education but also about giving them opportunities in all aspects of their lives.
And he noted that the reforms that the country is undertaking has brought about not only challenges that we must deal with but also opportunities and that he was happy to note that many Seychellois are seizing these opportunities and taking up their responsibilities.
“All these form part of a national drive to make people become more responsible for their own development and that of their nation.
“And this development should not be seen only on a personal and individual level but also at one’s workplace or organisation and in the community,” Mr Michel added.
Taking several local companies as examples, Mr Michel cited a host of achievements that Seychelles has made over the years in terms of empowering its own people.
He said Air Seychelles, for example, has over the past 30 years trained 300 cabin crew and that today 150 Seychellois occupy such posts.
He also noted that out of the 807 staff that the local airline employs, only 27 are foreigners who are here specifically to occupy specialised engineering positions as a condition of its agreement with international organisations and groups of countries such as IATA and the EU.
He said Air Seychelles has not only trained Seychellois who are working here but also a good number who are today employed with overseas companies, noting that 14 Seychellois pilots are currently working with such airlines as Emirates, Qatar and Singapore, among others, and about 10 Seychellois engineers and 30 cabin crew all trained by Air Seychelles and who are now working overseas.
“This shows that we have not only trained our people to work for our own organisations but we have also opened doors of opportunities for them,” Mr Michel said.
Citing our tanker industry as another success story in terms of empowering our own people, Mr Michel noted that 120 Seychellois now work on our tankers, some of them occupying such posts as chief officers and second engineers and 21 more are being trained to become engineers.
In addition, 14 Seychellois are employed on our newly launched tanker Seychelles Paradise, ordered by our national oil company Sepec to ensure an economical and environmentally safe supply of LPG and other fuel to the inner islands.
“These are ways that we are empowering our young people to work in an industry that is set to become one of the pillars of our economy,” President Michel said.
Mr Michel also spoke of the offshore industry as another sector where opportunities abound for Seychellois to work.
Seychelles Nation will come back on some other issues that President Michel talked about during the programme last night.