Africa-Press – Seychelles. The First Lady of Seychelles, Veronique Herminie, stressed the importance of education to ensure that every child can live with dignity, opportunity and have an equal voice in shaping the future at the inaugural “Fostering the Future Together” Global Coalition Summit.
The First Lady joined 45 other First Spouses at the summit held in Washington DC from March 24 to 25 at the US Department of State and the White House, on the personal invitation of U.S. First Lady Melania Trump.
According to a press release from State House on Wednesday, the summit focused on advancing children’s wellbeing through education, innovation and responsible use of technology.
In her intervention at the opening day of the summit, the First Lady stressed the importance of education to ensure that “every child can live with dignity, opportunity and have an equal voice in shaping the future.” She said that “education is the key and innovative technology, the pathway.”
Herminie highlighted that it is through “positive exposures and adventures that we improve the chance of our next generation being more informed and thus better able to navigate challenges and build healthy relationships as adults.”
The First Lady cautioned that “in this digital era where gender-based violence is being aided and escalated using technology, we need to ensure mandatory digital literacy not only for our children but for parents, teachers and caregivers to support responsible and safe digital learning […] and to ensure that technology improves rather than diminishes our children’s critical thinking.”
She stated that “as parents who truly care for the development of our children, we need to ensure that handheld devices should never replace laughter and fun; and should complement rather than replace our judgment or our parental roles.”
Herminie concluded by thanking First Lady Melania Trump for taking such bold steps to encourage all First Spouses to come together to promote digital education for all, through the Global Coalition.
Seychelles, an archipelago in the western Indian Ocean, has made meaningful progress in integrating digital technologies into education.
Representatives from leading tech companies held an exhibition at the global coalition summit showcasing the products and services they offer for schools and children, including OpenAI, Zoom AI, Microsoft, Google, Alpha School, Starlink, and Meta.
The Seychelles delegation included our Ambassador to the United States and the Permanent Mission of Seychelles to the UN, Vivianne Focktave; Teresa Laurencine, First Secretary in the Permanent Mission of Seychelles to the UN, and Marie-Neige Philoe, the Principal Programme Officer at the Office of the First Lady.
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