SBSA, a proud blood drive organiser awarded First Place in blood donation for June 2022 to June 2023, continued its humanitarian effort to help preserve life in 2024.

Thus far two blood drives have been conducted: the first one was on 12 March where 18 units in total were collected; and the second was on 21 May where 22 units were collected.

The academy plans to hold at least one more blood drive in Semester 2 of the Academic Year where they hope to see the participation of some alumni and parents alongside the staff and learners.

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In 2022 SBSA and SRC signed an MOU which aimed at helping the two entities enter into close collaboration to establish and develop academic exchange through capacity building including teaching, training and research development.

Through that MOU, in 2023, SRC professionals facilitated various sessions related to the Seychelles tax system and its regime. From these sessions SBSA lecturers were able to gain in-depth understanding of the topic and access SRC’s educational materials, all in a bid to support SBSA in the development and subsequent teaching of the local taxation course in both newly improved diploma programmes. The said programmes were officially accredited by the Seychelles Qualifications Authority in September 2023.

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SBSA staff and learners continuously contribute to the blood bank by organising a minimum of two blood drives each year, after the original request came from the blood bank for support in 2022.

In 2022,a total of three blood drives were conducted: in February, in May and in November 2022; and in 2023 there were two: one in February, and the second in May.

There was excellent participation from both staff and learners and the academy was awarded a certificate from Ministry of Health (Blood Transfusion Section) during a ceremony held at ICCS where SBSA was awarded 2^nd place for the period of June 2021 to June 2022. At a similar award ceremony for the period of June 2022 to June 2023, SBSA was this time awarded 1st place for blood donation among all organisations (Public and Private) with 57 successful pints collected.

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SBSA believes in showing their support to good causes and one such cause is the fight against cancer. Each year during Cancer Week, the academy conducts fund raising activities and all cash collected is donated to the Cancer Concern Association. During the week of 16 to 20 October 2023, staff and learners were encouraged to wear pink and make a contribution each day. Donation to the Cancer Concern Association was made to a representative, Mrs Dinaz van der Lans. SBSA will continue its support of this cause to help make a difference in the lives of those battling cancer.

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The Start and Improve Your Business (SIYB) ILO programme was successfully conducted with all Diploma in Business Management and Administration Year 3 learners as well as participants from other Professional Centres in 2023.

Four SBSA staff members, Mrs Rasika Basnayake, Mr Peter Too, Mr Nicholas Oduor and Mrs Maria Solin,underwent training with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) conducted between 2019 and 2020. This was funded through the support of the Seychelles Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI), the aim of which was for the four staff members to become "Start and Improve Your Business" (SIYB) trainers.

The Start and Improve your Business Programme (SIYB), is a 5 modules package which was developed by the International Labour Organisation in Geneva, Switzerland. The module is the largest Business skills development programme in the world, as it is widely recognised, having presence in over 100 countries.

At SBSA, the trainers are using 3 of these modules under this programme, namely (GYB) Generate your business, (SYB) Start Your Business and (IYB) Improve Your Business. As ILO Licensed Trainers, they conduct business skills development training for learners, private individuals and businesses.

The team of four conducted minilectures for GYB during the Global Entrepreneurship week of 2020 at the launching of the week, which was held at SBSA on 21 October 2020, wherepast SBSA learners who are now fully fledged entrepreneurs were given the opportunity to share their experiences alongside other, more experienced entrepreneurs.

Over the years SBSA has offered different specialised entrepreneurship training under the SIYB modules and in 2023 the academy started engagement with other Professional Centres, whereby learners from STA, SMA, SIT and SIAH joined SBSA learners for the 5 days’ workshop and they received their certificates for the Start Your Business (SYB) module.

The way forward is to implement the training on a larger scale as part of the incubation process being hosted by Division of Science, Technology & Innovation (DSTI) in which participants could gain knowledge and skills in several modules such as Marketing, Costing but most importantly designing their business and financial plans. In doing so, this will help participants to prepare to pitch for grants or loans.

The SIYB team is looking forward to being able to train other potential entrepreneurs who want to start a business and who already have a concrete business idea through the Start Your Business (SYB) modules. The programme is a combination of five days training, field work and after-training support, which will help participants assess their readiness to start a business and to prepare a business plan and evaluate its viability.

The Improve Your Business (IYB) training will benefit existing entrepreneurs who have the need to improve their business andthe academy is reaching out to train those who need such support through collaborations with DSTI, SENPA, SNYC and other agencies. The team remains ever committed to ensuring that SBSA always lives its motto: “Gateway to Opportunities” and they aim to make these opportunities available to the people of Seychelles.

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Members of the Seychelles Business Studies Academy’s (SBSA) quality assurance committee, which also includes management members, have received certificates after successfully completing a training to improve their skills and competencies in internal quality audit.

The aim of the training was to give these individuals an overview of the internal auditing techniques from a quality assurance perspective. 

Guidance and input on how they can go about the process of drafting the internal audit tools were also shared during the training.

The workshop led by the Seychelles Bureau of Standards was organised as part of the groundwork of the committee to address one of the key targets of the academy’s institutional accreditation action plan, which is to develop and apply quality audit tools and instruments to be used for further improvement of quality assurance structures and processes at SBSA.

During the certificate presentation ceremony held at the institute last week, other staff members and students also received certificates after completing different trainings.

They included lecturers who attended a number of workshops on local taxation by the Seychelles Revenue Commission as well as 57 business management and administration learners, and five from other professional centres who had the chance to attain an extra qualification through the Start Your Business (SYB) programme.

Under this programme, learners were able to learn how to prepare their business plan and acquired further knowledge on conducting financial planning.

In her address at the ceremony, SBSA’s deputy director for studies, Maria Solin, said the SYB is a package of five modules which was developed by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in Geneva, Switzerland.

The module is the largest business skills development programme in the world, as it is widely recognised, and being present in over 100 countries in the world.

At SBSA, three of these modules under this programme, namely SYB, ‘Generate your business’ and ‘Improve your business’ are being used.

“I would like to express my gratitude to the chairperson of our board, Oliver Bastienne, for giving my colleagues Rasika Basanayake, Peter Too and myself the chance, through the Seychelles Chamber of Commerce, in funding our training with ILO to become ‘Start Improve Your Business’ trainers,” she said.

Ms Solin said they were trained online for a few months during 2019 and 2020 and were later able to train a few groups of learners, business owners and other people who wanted to become future entrepreneurs.

“As ILO licensed trainers, we conduct business skills development training for learners, private individuals and businesses.  Now we want to carry out the training on a larger scale as part of the incubation process being hosted by the Division of Science, Technology & Innovation (DSTI) in which individuals could gain knowledge and skills in several modules such as marketing, costing, but most importantly designing their business and financial plans. In doing so, we can help them be prepared to pitch for grants or loans later on,” she added.

We look forward to being able to train potential entrepreneurs from the different professional centres who want to start a business and who already have a concrete business idea through the SYB Modules, Ms Solin added.

“This training, we believe, should be used to benefit the business community in general which is why we are reaching out to train those who need such support through the Enterprise Seychelles Agency, Seychelles National Youth Council or DSTI,” she stated.

“We remain ever committed to ensuring that SBSA always lives up to its motto: ‘Gateway to Opportunities’, and we aim to make these opportunities available to the people of Seychelles. I once again thank all those who are our steadfast supporters in helping SBSA live by its motto.”

The accompanying photos show the various groups who received certificates.

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