Tourism students left in limbo as President Faure ducks question
Someone somewhere in this government, starting with President Faure, appears to be playing games with the future of students at the Seychelles Tourism Academy.
And the question begs as to whether the Academy, which serves our most important industry, wouldn’t be better off being more autonomous, even perhaps under private-public management.
I say “starting with President Faure” because he visibly ducked a very pertinent question posed by this newspaper’s Editor at this week’s press conference, and thereafter this Editor never got the chance to ask any follow-up questions as the moderator Larry Chetty claimed that he didn’t see his hands being raised.
Editor Volcere:
My second question concerns the Seychelles Tourism Academy, where there was a press conference this morning at La Misère. We have been asking for a press conference for a while it seems that they don’t have the authority to decide… they need to ask permission from the Ministry of Tourism. We were shocked to discover this situation in (2020) the era we are living in, where an institution of such importance to the tourism industry is being controlled almost entirely by the Ministry of Tourism…
There are 480 students at the Academy, 215 of whom will graduate in one month. They should be entering the labour market and as you know the labour market doesn’t exist for them because of the collapse on the tourism industry due to COVID-19. They now have an uncertain future.
We see a situation where the STA should become autonomous to make their own decision like the Guy Morel Institution and the Seychelles University. I spoke to the students who were there and they told me to ask the President what is going on with the second phase of the STA Project. The development included a hotel. What is going on?
President Faure:
The Tourism Academy like any post-secondary institution has a ministry. It’s only a question of informing the ministry that there will be a press conference and the director and his team…. Mr. Flavien Joubert is a very competent person an excellent leader and he can hold a press conference anytime. It could have been an internal matter… believe me that it is not our policy to prevent people from talking.
Our policy is to encourage people to go out and talk, they are listening to me now and the press conference must continue for you to go ask about the first and second phase and about the students and more…
The President didn’t answer the question but rather pushed it aside.
He failed to address the situation facing the 215 students who are graduating next month. These are young people who would be voting for the first time in the next election. He could have offered some words of advice and what is his government planning for them in this period of high anxiety.
The President didn’t show any compassion or interest in their predicament. He practically brushed the question aside. He was not interested!
In 2007 the Seychelles Hospitality and Tourism Training College was renamed the Seychelles Tourism Academy with a clear mandate to provide training for the tourism labour market.
This objective has not been met in its entirety due to a serious lack of commitment on the part of this Government. This is why we believe that the STA must become an autonomous institution.
The Seychelles Tourism Academy is probably the most important training institution in Seychelles today when you take into consideration that this country depend almost entirely on tourism to finance our National Budget. The local tourism industry contributes 80% of all foreign exchange earned by this country. Therefore, the role of the STA cannot be underestimated by the leaders of this country, especially the President.
