Par Vidya Gappy
Africa-Press – Seychelles. Good news for all language enthusiasts! The University of Seychelles, in collaboration with the University of Aix-Marseille, will offer a Masters in Trilinguals (Mastri) from September 2025. This news was officially announced yesterday by the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Development social, Dr. Justin Zelime at UniSey.
The official ceremony was attended by the Ambassador of France to Seychelles, Olivia Berkeley-Christmann, Professor Sibylle Kriegel from the University of Aix-Marseille, Professors Mylene Eyquieme Lebon from the University of Réunion, as well as those responsible faculties and former graduates of UniSey.
This collaboration, let us recall, began in 2017 when the Department of Education, Languages and Media and the Research Institute on Creole Language and Culture, in collaboration with the University of Aix-Marseille in France, have started to think about developing a trilingual Master’s program. At the beginning of 2023, after numerous meetings and negotiations between the two parties concerned, an important memorandum of understanding was signed with Aix-Marseille University, following which a small committee was formed to work on the project proposal. Today it has become a reality.
“This master’s degree aligns very well with our strategic plan by providing more opportunities for Seychellois students to pursue higher education and increasing the number of master’s level programs at UniSey. It is also an innovative program that represents an important step in our strong commitment to providing an inclusive educational experience that reflects the trilingual and multicultural nature of Seychellois society,” shared Dr. Zelime.
Dr. Zelime added that “As we all know, Seychelles is a trilingual society and this is enshrined in our constitution, which recognizes Creole, English and French as our three national languages. As such, it is entirely appropriate that our Languages Department embarks on a trilingual postgraduate degree that reflects our language needs. As we consider Creole to be our mother tongue in Seychelles, it is also very significant that we are taking the necessary steps to take this mother tongue to the next level through its inclusion in a postgraduate degree.”
Ambassador Berkeley-Christmann noted that “this project is part of a tool to support cultural and academic cooperation FSPI-R now renamed the France Team Fund (FEF-R) which allows France through this funds to finance this UniSey and AMU project to the tune of more than 63,000 euros.
She recalled that for France, this Master will not only strengthen our links with Seychellois youth but also promote cross-mobility, including in the Indian Ocean. “For Seychelles, the creation of such a trilingual course is fully in line with the constitution which provides for three national languages: Creole, English and French and will, without a doubt, allow, by focusing on transfers positive relations between these three languages, to give each of them back their letters of nobility in your beautiful archipelago.”
Ambassador Berkeley-Christmann added that such a course will also respond, in a concrete way, to the need for training of executives in the fields of education, journalism and tourism, to name just these fields.
During a press conference after the ceremony, Professor Kriegel explained that Mastri is a project that will restore the French language. “The initial idea is to focus on positive transfers between Seychellois Creole and French. Young Seychellois often think that the French language is complicated when it is quite simple, especially since they already speak Creole. Mastri will also launch a trilingual, comparative grammar, for all those (students) who often have to change languages.
As for the terms of this course, Professor Mylene Eyquieme noted that students with a diploma but who have several years of work can also apply for this course. “Nothing has been finalized at the moment and the terms of application will be available later. We realized that there are still quite a few professionals who want to have a Master’s degree and this will be an opportunity for them.”
During this ceremony, Dr. Penda Choppy and Ms. Annie Laurette received their plane tickets for a working visit to the University of Aix-Marseille for ten days.
Source: nation.sc
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