Africa-Press – Seychelles. Members of the Media, Youth, Sports and Culture Committee (MYSCC) of the National Assembly visited the Youth Hostel at Anse Royale earlier this week.
The aim of the visit was for the committee to garner more information on the hostel’s infrastructure, facilities, available resources, challenges and constraints, and to gain an understanding of students’ concerns.
Before visiting the infrastructure and facilities, the MYSCC, chaired by Hon. Wavel Woodcock, met in two separate meetings with the management and staff and with the students’ council to seek clarifications on a variety of issues and concerns.
The director of the hostel, Roger Alphonse, gave the MYSCC a brief history of the hostel since it was officially opened on April 14, 1999 by the then Minister for Education, Danny Faure, as a second home to students from the inner islands who follow courses at post-secondary institutions on Mahé.
Speaking on the challenges and constraints, Mr Alphonse said that taking into account that staff, especially those earning less than R7000, have been on the same salary for too long, there is a need for a new salary package for them.
He also stressed on the need for adequate financial assistance to improve the infrastructure and the living facilities to make it more conducive and more reflective of a home for the students.
He also requested for more additional caretakers to cope with various mentalities of students coming from different family backgrounds.
Mr Alphonse took over as director of the hostel in 2009.
In the meeting with the student’s council chaired by Diguois Fabien Jeanne, a fourth year students from the Seychelles Institute for Teacher Education (SITE), a recreation area to meet and to socialise, a study centre, IT and access to WiFi, were among some of their concerns raised by young residents to improve their living conditions at the hostel.
With inflation on the rise and with things getting more expensive, they stated that the hostel allowance of R1200 was not enough to cater for the high cost of living, when taking into account that they have to cater for their own personal items, including buying food.
After the two interactive meetings, the MYSCC was led by Mr Alphonse on a tour of the infrastructure and facilities which included the administration, the boys and girls’ dormitories, the outside manual laundry and an area housing an old vacant building which Mr Alphonse had earlier proposed in the meeting that a recreation area, a study centre and an IT room could be built on.
After the visit Hon. Woodcock said that the committee will present a report on their findings and recommendations to the National Assembly and to the relevant ministries, especially the Ministry of Education.
On the part of his fellow residents, Fabien Jeanne said that they were grateful to MYSCC for the visit that gave them the opportunity to voice their concerns and that their requests, especially for a recreation area and a study centre, are taken into consideration and are materialised.
Mr Alphonse on his part said that he hopes for a better coordination and working relationship between the parent ministry and the hostel so as to adapt to the changes of the modern world.
With the capacity to cater for 192 students, the Youth Hostel has at the moment 144 students (57 boys and 87 girls). It employs 11 staff among whom 3 are care takers to the students. The rest are in administration, security and housekeeping.
Other members of the MYSCC present were the vice-chairperson, Hon. Phillip Arissol, Hon. Flory Larue, Hon. Paul Ernesta, Hon. Naddy Zialor and Hon. Kelly Samynadin. Hon. Johan Loze was not present.
The accompanying photographs show some highlights of the MYSCC’s visit at the Youth Hostel.
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