A team from the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF) made up of the OIF Ambassador for the Indian Ocean Léonard Emile Ognimba, the delegate for French teaching in the world Rennie Yotova and the director of French Française et de la Diversité des Cultures francophones (DLC) Nivine Khaled, is in Seychelles to follow up on the visit of the Secretary General of the OIF, Ms. Louise Mushikiwabo, in September this year.

During her visit, Ms. Mushikiwabo announced that in a few weeks a team from the OIF will be in the Seychelles to better supervise French teachers in the Seychelles.

“During the visit of the SG of the OIF, she met with the highest authorities of the place and at the end of her discussions, Ms. Mushikiwabo had the good idea to design an action plan on the promotion, the visibility, the presence of the French language in the Seychelles. This is therefore the raison d’être of this mission. We are happy to note that following the mission of the SG of the OIF, there has been a new dynamic around the French language in the Seychelles and this comforts us. We are here in Seychelles to respond to the wishes of SG and the Seychelles authorities. We came to listen to the Seychellois authorities on how they perceive this partnership with the OIF around the French language. We also came to offer our ideas on the subject,”

Ms. Khaled added that in order to be able to contribute to strengthening the presence of the use and influence of the French language in the Seychelles, the first thing to ensure is that French is taught in the most optimal way possible, to as many people as possible. “And for this we have a mobility program for volunteer teachers which allows us to send teachers from and in French who come from all over the French-speaking world so that they can come and contribute alongside French teachers in the country. to improve the quality and quantity of French learning”.

Developing this program, Ms. Khaled explained, requires two very important things – political ownership and technical ownership. “Heads of establishments, teachers of French can be involved in explaining to us what the specific needs of the country are and how, with local teachers, we can contribute to education on a larger scale and above all of better quality. This is what we are going to try to develop as quickly as possible”.

Ms. Khaled also shared the good surprise of the OIF on learning that there are more than 200 French teachers in Seychelles and 36 public schools. This will allow them to diagnose the situation of French as quickly as possible, identify specific needs and deploy the first batch of teachers as soon as possible at the start of the 2024 academic year.

For her part, Mrs. Yotova spoke about the mobility of teachers. “We are going to prepare a national plan that is really contextualized and adapted to Seychelles. We are going to make a diagnosis of the linguistic and didactic skills of French teachers via specific questionnaires. Then, we will provide a report to the Ministry of Education and on this basis, together we will prepare a training plan that will be consistent with the program that will be deployed for the mobility of French teachers”.

Ms. Yotova noted that as the wish is to see the French language shine in the Seychelles, the IOF is working on a French-speaking environment component. “There are several elements in this component ‒ we can have Francophone clubs at the school level and even deploy innovative activities that appeal to young people and even at the international level where they can meet young people on a virtual platform, participate in activities that will help young people to develop the French language.

Another element in this project will be that a class can be paired with another class from a French-speaking country and will have activities throughout the year.

Ms. Yotova also talked about a project that will help build the capacity of French-speaking journalists. “This is a request that was made by journalists and we are going to work with French-speaking journalists through the International Union of the French-speaking Press. We are going to strengthen this component so that French is more present in the written and spoken press,” she said.

Ambassador Ognimba and the two experts are in the Seychelles for three days of work and will continue to follow very closely the outcome of the projects to strengthen the presence of the French language in the Seychelles.

Source: Seychelles Nation