Economic Transformation Strategy

CHAPTER 2 / BROAD STRATEGY FOR DEVELOPMENT The progression of this pillar is highly dependent on skilled human resources in the science and technology domain. It can be considered to be of strategic importance therefore to build a pool of home-grown expertise in the relevant STI areas of interest. This can be achieved through strengthening the current education system, particularly in the STEM-re- lated disciplines. Reviewing the 2013-2018 results of the STEM related subjects for the country's IGCSE examinations (see the table below showing the percentages of students attaining grade C or better) show poor performance in STEM subjects. These results suggest that prioritisation and additional resources are needed to boost the educational outco- mes in these subject areas. Percentage of students attaining grade C or better (%) 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Biology 27 34 41 44 42 40 Chemistry 30 30 40 38 40 46 Physics 30 25 32 41 42 30 Combined Science 2 5 10 5 17 19 ICT 30 29 34 42 35 33 Mathematics 34 27 35 34 41 49 Table 3: Trends in grade C or better for STEM related disciplines in IGCSE subjects In 2014, an 'ICT in Education' strategy was established, however its implementation has thus far been relatively weak. The school curriculum ensures delivery of basic digital skills, being offered as a subject to pupils of Secondary one to three, and thereafter becomes a compulsory undertaking for students in the academic route in Secondary 4 and 5. Moreover, several other factors have an impact on learning. This includes limited teacher capacity in schools as well as internet capacity. However, over the last two years the internet capacity has improved considerably, particularly after agreed terms for Internet Service Provider, which set out to free provide internet access to all schools. The main provider being the Seychelles Cable Systems Company which caters for the provision of the bandwidth, whereas three providers namely Cable and Wireless, Airtel and Intelvision cater for service delivery each for a particular set of schools. In addi- tion, there exists weak education-industry linkages which precipitate a mismatch between the supply and demand of advanced digital skills. STI has the potential to serve as a catalyst for the development of all sectors, hence its prominent role in the NDS. Strategic concerns such as funding and the role of appropriate research and development stand to be addressed in the coming years. However, not enough is happening in research and innovation, despite progress in income and education standards. Despite the fact that there are a large number of national and sectoral policies, which implicitly promote STI, such as fisheries, agriculture, health, ICT, SMEs, industrialisation, tourism, etc. 63 883

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