Anse Etoile primary school hosted a ceremony yesterday morning in commemoration of its 25th anniversary.
This milestone event was attended by the Minister for Education Dr Justin Valentin, the principal secretary for Educational Services Merna Eulentin, the principal secretary for Education Sector Development John Lesperance, teachers and students. Former head teachers of the school were also invited to join the ceremony.
The ceremony started off with a few words of gratitude and a prayer by Pastor Vincent Alcindor, who attended Anse Etoile school during his childhood.
After the reading of a poem titled ‘Le petit poisson’ by crèche students, there were several song and dance performances by both teachers and students.
“Celebrating a Silver jubilee is an immense achievement in itself,” said Alna Bacco as she gave an overview of the school’s details and history. She also stated that the school was officially opened in 1997 by the Minister for Education at that time (Patrick Pillay) with Marie Therese Elizabeth as its first head teacher, and now consists of 495 students and 51 members of staff.
In her opening remarks, the current head teacher of the school since 2018, Jacqueline Celestine, mentioned that this year also marks her 25th year of service. She gave out a special mention to a group of 13 employees who have worked at the school since its opening 25 years ago and to every head teacher since.
“They were here to witness the opening of this school and I’m sure they have a lot to say about these past 25 years. How things were before and what the transformations have brought. Each head teacher came with their own vision of how they wanted the school to progress and we have, without doubt, seen the results of their work,” she remarked.
Tokens of recognition, facilitated by the Ministry of Education, were then presented to these employees by Dr Valentin, PS Eulentin and PS Lesperance. The former head teachers also received tokens of appreciation, presented by two deputies of the school.
Head teacher Celestine also noted that there is still a lot to be done at the school in order to achieve what they set out to.
“The path is still long; there are still many things to accomplish. Like our vision brings out, we are a school that works collectively to develop a child in all his aspects…”
Two past students, Don Anacoura and Kelsy Allisop, recounted their experiences at Anse Etoile school and how those ended up shaping their careers and lives. This was followed by a vote of thanks by Zita Marguerite, one of the past head teachers of the school.
The ceremony ended with surprise song performances by two groups of students and an invitation for the guests to visit an exhibition which had been set up to depict the journey of the school up to now.
The accompanying photos show some highlights of the event yesterday.
Source: Seychelles Nation
