The Seychelles Polytechnic will be holding a special ceremony Friday to mark its twenty years of existence.

The ceremony will take place at the Polytechnic theatre at Anse Royale starting at 3 p.m.

This will no doubt be a moment of great importance for the institution, as it marks two decades of achievement during which it has become an important motor contributing greatly to the national development of the country.

The Seychelles Polytechnic opened its doors to students on January 24, 1983 and over the last two decades close to 10,000 students have graduated from the institution.

When President France Albert Rene opened the institution, he stressed that a Polytechnic education should link "learning with production, education with national development, and individual achievement with the common good". 

He further emphasized that a Polytechnic education should provide "a multi-faceted education concerned with the whole person - his moral, physical and intellectual development as a contributing member of our society".

Twenty years on, it can be seen that these challenges have been already met, though the process of downsizing through the late 1990s has meant that the Polytechnic is now much smaller than it used to be. 

The schools which formerly formed part of the Polytechnic (Maths and Science, Humanities and Social Science, Business Studies and Accounting, Agriculture, Maritime Studies, Engineering, Construction, Hotel and Tourism, Art and Design, Health Studies and Media Studies) have been reduced to four programme areas – (Academic Studies, Business and Secretarial Studies, Technical Studies and the Manchester Twinning Programme).

Whilst the Polytechnic of yesteryear concentrated mainly on craft and Certificate courses, the reformed Polytechnic has been concentrating on courses from Advanced/Diploma level and above.

According to the director of the Seychelles Polytechnic Mrs Anne Lafortune, the Manchester Twinning Programme and Advanced Diploma courses in Technical and Business Studies are clear indicators as to where the new Polytechnic is headed as it enters its third decade of existence.

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