Bilateral cooperation between the Republic of Seychelles and the Republic of Botswana is expected to improve. This follows a meeting initiated by Vice President Danny Faure and Mr. Joel Morgan, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Transport, with the Minister for Education and Skills Development, Mrs. Unity Dow and other high officials from both countries.

This meeting was held to propose an exchange program with the Botswana authorities in order to secure placement for a backlog of Seychellois teachers currently awaiting to complete their advance studies in various fields of teaching. More specifically, the intention was to find a solution to clearing the current backlog, without compromising on the number of teachers available to fulfill the human resource requirements in the immediate.

It is to this end that Vice President Faure proposed to the authorities, that should placement be available for the Seychellois students in the Botswana University, Seychelles would be willing to consider employing teachers from Botswana.  This would serve to bridge the immediate gap that sending the teachers overseas for training would entail.

In their response, the Botswana authorities welcomed the proposal, highlighting that the university does have capacity to absorb additional students from Seychelles in various fields of training in education. Additionally, they also confirmed that they currently have a pool of surplus qualified teaches, for which the recruitment program would provide for a mutually beneficial outcome to both parties.

The authorities were further encouraged by the proposal in light of their vision to position Botswana as a hub for education in the region. In their opinion such a program which would also involve a cross cultural dimension would inevitably benefit their own teachers in terms of new knowledge and experience, thus enhancing their overall capabilities.

It is to be noted that the relationship between the Republic of Seychelles and the Republic of Botswana is not an entirely new one. A number of Seychellois have in the past followed training in Botswana, particularly in the field of librarianship.  Currently, there are 20 teachers already following first degree courses in the Botswana university, in the area of english language, mathematics, science and social sciences.

In order to formalise the agreement, the two countries are expected to sign a memorandum of understanding in the coming months, with the first cohort of Botswana  teachers expected to arrive in Seychelles by mid December 2015, and the group of Seychellois teachers commencing their studies in January 2016.

Also present at the meeting on the Seychelles side were; the Principal Secretary in the Vice Presidents's Secretariat, Mrs Jeanne Simeon, the Permanent Representative to SADC, Ambassador Claude Morel and other senior officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Transport and the Ministry of Finance, Trade and the Blue Economy.