Message by the Chief executive of the Institute of Early Childhood Development, Shirley Choppy
Mrs. Shirley Choppy
‘Celebrate our children’
“Universal Children’s Day is a day to celebrate our children and the tireless work put into ensuring their safety, education and holistic development.
“This year, the celebration is threefold as we commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child adopted in 1989 whereby countries ratifying this convention pledged to protect and respect the rights of each and every child no matter their race or religion. This reinforces, our duty as policymakers, law enforcers and citizens to take action to ensure that no child is left behind and that full support, in reaching their full potential, is provided to the current and future generations. Through our work at the Institute of Early Childhood Development (IECD) and the collaboration of all sectors in ECCE, we are striving hard in the implementation of the sustainable development goals (SDGs 3, 4 & SDG 4.2) targets. Already, Seychelles has been ranked as the top performing African country in meeting the early education, care and health related targets. However, together we need to do more in terms of high quality service provision and programmes, effective data management systems to better track progress, and enhanced investments in order to meet the diverse needs of all Seychellois children
“This year we also celebrate a very important milestone, the accreditation of the Seychelles Institute of Early Childhood Development (IECD) as a Global Category II Centre under the auspices of Unesco. As a Category II Centre, the institute is to provide global intellectual and operational leadership, as well as capacity building for Unesco member states to advance the development of ECCE, promote the strengthening of ECCE systems across Unesco member states and advocate for and support the realisation of the relevant SDGs. The geographical scope of the Unesco Category II Institute means that Seychelles has acceded to a global recognition as a leader in this field. This momentous recognition for such a small island state signifies the government’s strong commitment, technical prowess and coordinated efforts in building and sustaining a resilient system for early childhood care and education.
“The institute would like to underscore and appreciate, the shared commitment and collective actions of all our partners and stakeholders in ECCE, and the selfless and great work of my team to put Seychelles on a world map and carry forward our country to critical global acclaim.
“Lastly, it is our mission to ‘provide leadership in ECCE and to ensure, through collaboration with all other partners, the coordinated implementation of policies and programmes to improve quality and accessibility of early childhood care, social protection and education so that every child develops holistically, has positive learning experiences, and builds a strong foundation for success in school and everyday life’. This is in accordance to the guiding principles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and let us adopt it as our pledge, as, to reflect on how best we can ensure children’s holistic development and rights are fully achieved.
“On this joyous moment, as we celebrate our momentous achievements in ECCE and mark the anniversary of the CRC, let us all fulfill our commitments and making sure every child, has every right!”
