From the 23 to 25 October 2018, UNESCO-IICBA, represented by Program Officer, Dr. Binyam Sisay, supported the Seychelles in their teacher policy development process. The Seychelles Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development has recently established a teacher section within the Ministry, headed by Mr. Alex Souffe, and the office has started preparing the ground work to develop teacher policy. It is to be recalled that Mr. Alex Souffe and Ms. Rosianna Jules, who is the Director of the Seychelles Institute of Teacher Education visited IICBA in May 2018 for initial discussions about policy development and technical support they could receive from IICBA. Read more about the May 2018 meeting here: http://www.iicba.unesco.org/?q=node/310

The day and a half workshop was organized by the Seychelles Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development in order to begin mapping available studies on the living and working conditions of teachers in the Seychelles as well as learn about IICBA’s extensive experience in and various guidelines and tools on teacher policy development in Africa. Accordingly, available studies regarding teachers in the Seychelles were discussed to see if they could serve as a diagnostic study. UNESCO’s nine key dimensions of any comprehensive teacher policy were also presented. In addition, IICBA shared its experience working in countries like Uganda and Burundi.

Together, a work plan was prepared to guide the policy development process. At the conclusion of the workshop, attendees were given the opportunity to meet the H.E. Minister of Education and Human Resource Development of the Republic of Seychelles, Ms. Jeanne Simeon and the Principal Secretary, Dr. Linda Barallon. They were briefed on the achievements of the workshop and the way forward. Her Excellency the Minister confirmed that finalizing the teacher policy is a priority for 2019, and that she appreciated the technical support from UNESCO-IICBA.
 
IICBA's work in the Seychelles is but one example of how the Institute supports countries in planning, developing and implementing customized policies and programmes to meet country specific needs.