The Seychelles Revenue Commission (SRC) and the Seychelles Business Studies Academy (SBSA) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU).

The agreement was signed by the commissioner general of SRC, Veronique Herminie, and the director of SBSA, Josianne Bristol, in a short ceremony held yesterday afternoon at the SBSA premises at the University of Seychelles, Anse Royale.

Present were staff and students of the learning institution as well as representatives of the SRC management.

The MoU is to establish a framework for collaboration in academic exchange through capacity building, such as training and research development opportunities, for SBSA students and staff of SRC.

The agreement will also assist in fulfilling the national needs of the human resource development plan by opening doors for students wishing to take a career in tax or customs through internship opportunities at SRC, in addition to granting SRC officers more access to the related objectives through enrollment in the Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) courses conducted in-house by SBSA.

Mrs Herminie described the MoU as an important step taken by SRC in terms of capacity development of its staff in the field of accounting.

It is also to further cement the close collaboration the commission has with SBSA in the formation of its students through SRC’s internship programmes.

“Under the MoU, we shall also ensure that our domestic tax laws are given prominence in the course materials being offered to the students as part of our efforts to bring more awareness to the tax obligation for businesses operating locally. These students will graduate to hopefully become future accountants of these businesses and what they learn on our local taxes and tax laws shall be a plus to their employers. It will definitely open possibilities for recruitment at SRC for those students following the internship programmes subject to successful academic performance to meet the internal criteria and expectation of the organization,” said Mrs Herminie.

The commissioner general stated that since tax laws are not covered in the education curriculum, she welcomed the SBSA for offering such courses to its staff.

Since the start of this year, SRC has welcomed a total of twenty students from SBSA as part of the orgainsation’s internship programme among whom three are presently undergoing on-the-job training within the Revenue and Audit section. Students would spend four to six training sessions at the organisation.

Nine SRC officers are also presently enrolled on different ATT level courses at SBSA.

On her part, Mrs Bristol said that SBSA has been working closely with SRC for a number of years now and the MoU will help to formalise their partnership and will certainly provide the institution’s staff and learners with scope for further professional development.

“We look forward to building deeper understanding of Seychelles taxation laws for both lecturers and learners through the support of SRC and we also certainly look forward to supporting SRC with the training  of their own personnel. We know that this collaboration will benefit both parties immensely and help us develop further mutual support of each other,” she added.

SRC employs 376 workers among whom 40 are SBSA graduates.

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A group of 23 enthusiastic male students from the Seychelles Business Studies Academy (SBSA) recently took part in a two-day training sessions to prepare them to enter into responsible and resilient adulthood and to equip them with leadership skills, to empower them to become positive and responsible men.

The young teenage boys also learned how to exert positive influence in their community and how to instill a sense of responsibility, self-respect, moral and spiritual values in other young boys.

The Population Unit under the aegis of the Family Department hosted the training as part of the training of trainers’ project funded by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). The training which took place at the SBSA at Anse Royale was led by the Family Department’s principal research officer Gerald Kiwale, senior research officer Gina Adelaide, consultant Benjamin Vel, Seychelles Prison Services Programme Coordinator in the Rehabilitation Unit Donald Zialor, and Lieutenant Gerry Boniface.

The sessions are also in line with the International Men’s Day celebrated yesterday under this year’s theme ‘Better relations between men and women'. The 2021 theme comes with the understanding that the Covid-19 pandemic and the fact that gender-based violence can affect relations between men and women.

Mr Kiwale said the sessions were a success and they managed to successfully work with the group of young men.“Such a workshop equips them with knowledge and life skills as they transition to adulthood. They got acquainted with the law of Seychelles and statistics on reported cases of gender based violence. It is inspiring to see their interest in the matter through their participation and as the training of trainers’ project demands, we hope they will adopt best practices and educate their families and peers,” Mr Kiwale said.

This is the third training hosted by the Family Department; the first two targeted men in the work place which sought the creation of a Men’s Association.

SBSA deputy director, Maria Solin, said such trainings are not new to the academy as a previous workshop was carried out with staff. She reiterated that it is important for SBSA to equip students to enter the world of work and the academic qualifications alone will not be enough for them to face the real world. Knowing more about gender base violence will allow them to address issues at home and within the workplace thus developing leadership skills that will lead to a better quality of life.

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