Day: June 6, 2023

The Cameroon Teachers Trade Union, CATTU in collaboration with the Cameroon Education For All Network, CEFAN have begun initiatives for effective school resumption in the North West region for the coming academic year.

The initiative started recently with the engagement of some stakeholders in Bamenda on back-to-school campaigns and how the population can be convinced of the importance of education.

During a focus group discussion in Bamenda chaired by the regional coordinator of CATTU, Semma Valentine, in the presence of personalities like representatives from state institutions, entrepreneurs, quarter heads, media personalities, and others.

The come together according to them, is a follow-up to a survey carried out by CEFAN in 2021 on the impact of the crisis on education in the region.

During the event, the various stakeholders discussed the various techniques and advocacy strategies that can be delivered to increase the awareness campaign for back-to-school in the crisis-hit region.

Participants were grouped and back-to-school messages were crafted. They also proposed better ways how to protect education in the region.

According to Semma Valentine, the project is also aimed at shaping government policy and increasing the number of children who will go back to school by September.

“We came here today to brainstorm and see how we can build our capacity in terms of advocacy and accountability for quality education and massive back to school,” Semma Valentine said.

Semma added that the proposals will be made as a report and sent to the government for study and implementation.

While revealing the shocking statistics of children who dropped out of school as a result of the crisis, the Regional Coordinator also challenged parents in the region to send their children to school.

“We are crying out loud to parents that we cannot continue holding back the education of our children. While the crisis is on, I don’t think we should continue standing in the same spot. Education cannot wait, we must send our children to school,” Semma added.

In the end, participants endorsed the initiative to yield results come September. Gambo Rekeatu just like many others promised to take the message back to their communities.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

Seychelles’ Ministry of Education and the Colombo International Nautical Engineering College (CINEC) have signed a renewed memorandum of agreement (MoA) to further improve safety, efficiency, and competency within not only the maritime sector, but also the fisheries sector of Seychelles.

The agreement was signed by the education minister, Justin Valentin, and the president of the CINEC Campus, Ajith Peiris, on Tuesday.

CINEC has been collaborating with the ministry for the past 10 years, and through this agreement, Seychellois cadets and Seychelles Maritime Academy (SMA) lecturers have had the opportunity to attend training programmes at the SMA on Mahe Island and the CINEC Campus in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

The academy offers cadets certifications across varying levels in navigation and seamanship, fishing science and technology, and marine mechanics, in addition to several other short courses.

During the short signing ceremony, Peiris outlined that CINEC “brought Seychelles into the IMO [International Maritime Organisation] whitelist and that means international recognition of Seychelles’ Certificates is now in place.”

“Our next step is to make sure that the Certificate of Competency issued by Seychelles becomes a reality, which is expected to come into effect, in about 3 months. This certificate is internationally recognised, meaning Seychellois can sail on any other foreign ships and bring more foreign exchange to this country,” said Peiris.

Valentin said that the renewal of the agreement is a commitment that the government is making to the youth of the country in terms of development in the maritime sector.

Peiris further added that CINEC is now shifting activities to expand into the fisheries sector of Seychelles and getting involved in developing programmes and training in the port sector. He outlined that at the moment, tug masters are receiving further training to handle ships more efficiently and competently.

Through the training, CINEC wishes to bring more professionalism into the fisheries sector, especially when it comes to rules and regulations.

The fisheries minister, Jean Francois Ferrari, who was also present at the signing, outlined that the first link between CINEC and SMA was more geared toward training Seychellois youth to work on tankers.

“At the ministry, we want to make a shift to now include fisheries, yachting, and activities in the port. SMA has also accepted to provide more practical short courses,” said Ferrari.

The shore-based shipping industries expected to benefit include logistics and supply chain management.

The first MoA with CINEC was signed on August 30, 2013, and has since been renewed every three years. The last agreement, which expired in December 2022, was extended to cover part of 2023 until this agreement was signed.

Source: Seychelles News Agency

The Portuguese government will double, as of next academic year, the number of scholarships for bachelor’s and master’s degrees for Portuguese-speaking African countries (PALOP), announced Monday in Luanda Province, the Prime Minister of Portugal, António Costa.

António Costa, who is on a 48-hour working visit to Angola, was speaking during a press conference, which was also attended by the Angolan Head of State, João Lourenço.

Without informing the current number of scholarships, particularly for Angola, the Head of the Portuguese government said that there is a 30% increase in the value of the scholarships, which will translate into an increase in the scholarships granted to Angolan students at Portuguese universities.

Regarding higher education, António Costa said that his government will continue to invest in the Portuguese School of Luanda and also in the development of branches outside the capital.

“We’ll make investments in order to serve a greater number of students who want to follow the Portuguese curriculum”, he stressed.

In the presence of the two dignitaries, as part of António Costa’s visit agenda, on Monday Angola and Portugal signed 13 new legal instruments in the sectors of finance, fisheries, construction, staff training, public administration and the port.

Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique and Sao Tome and Principe are part of the PALOP countries

Source: Angola Press News Agency (APNA)