The President was welcomed by the Chairperson of the SITE Board, Mr George Tirant, and the Director of the Institute, Mrs Rosianna Jules. The visit began with a tour of the premises where the President and his delegation had a chance to view the various specialised rooms on the ground floor before proceeding to the first and second floor for a tour of the Administration Office, Laboratories, Staff Rooms and Lecture Rooms.

 

During his tour, the President held brief discussions with the staff, observed lectures in progress as well as interacted with various students some of which were undertaking their first or third year of teacher training. Following the tour the President met with the management team for a meeting in the SITE Conference Room.

 

Management members shared their views on the operation of the institution and highlighted some of the concerns and challenges to overcome.  The meeting was an opportunity to also propose possible solutions and seek the President’s views of propositions they have put forward and how can collectively work with all relevant stakeholders to advance teacher education and training.

 

On his part, President Faure thanked and commended the SITE team for all the good work they are doing to mould the future teachers of Seychelles, a job he described as noble and crucial for the progress of the country. He urged them develop new and innovative strategies to engage more people in the profession and to never lose sight of their core mandate.

 

SITE has a total of 285 students: 106 following full-time face-to-face training and 179 are following training through the Blended Learning Mode (BLM).