VICTORIA, Seychelles — A sweeping package of Seychelles Cabinet reforms approved at the Cabinet meeting of Wednesday, January 28, will establish a new autonomous Careers and Further Education Agency, create an Education Reform Council, launch a national youth internship programme, and deliver expanded childcare financial assistance to low-income families from as early as February 2026. Secretary of State for Cabinet Affairs and Civil Services Margaret Moumou outlined the measures at a press briefing at State House on Thursday morning.
For Seychellois families, the announcements represent a significant shift in how the government intends to support children from early learning through to employment. The childcare assistance expansion directly addresses one of the most cited cost pressures on working parents, while the youth employment initiatives target the difficult transition from school to the workforce that has long been a concern for young Seychellois and their families. Collectively, the reforms signal a deliberate effort by the new administration to invest in human capital as the foundation for long-term economic resilience.
The Careers and Further Education Agency Bill, 2026, establishes an autonomous statutory body to manage careers development guidance, further education pathways, student transitions to employment, and the administration of government-funded scholarships. The Bill replaces the dissolved Agency for National Human Resource Development (ANHRD) and will be submitted to the National Assembly for enactment. The Cabinet also approved the Education Reform Council as a high-level oversight body to guide the national education reform programme in phases, beginning with early childhood and primary education. On youth employment, the IGNITE Pilot Programme will offer structured workplace internships to 50 high-potential S4 and S5 students plus 50 students from professional centres per cohort, commencing April 2026, with participants remunerated at R48 per hour. The StepUp4Life Holiday Programme targets up to 200 secondary school students from S3 to S5 during the April, August, and December school holidays, administered jointly by the Seychelles National Youth Council, the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Employment. For childcare, Cabinet continued the universal subsidy of R750 per child per month and approved a means-tested top-up of an additional R750 per child per month for eligible households with net income below R8,555.50, administered jointly from February 2026 by the Institute of Early Childhood Development and the Agency for Social Protection.
The reforms build on longstanding government commitments to improve the governance of scholarship management and careers guidance after the dissolution of the ANHRD, which left gaps in the coordination of further education and bonding obligations. The new agency structure introduces clearer reporting lines and dedicated units for partnerships, performance, communications, and youth participation, including through the Youth Empowerment Council.
Cabinet also approved significant changes in the culture sector, including the repeal of the Seychelles National Institute for Culture, Heritage and the Arts Act, 2021, and the drafting of a new Seychelles Culture, Arts and National Heritage Bill to bring cultural institutions under stronger ministerial oversight within the Ministry of Tourism and Culture. The National Monuments Board is to be re-established under the Seychelles National Monuments Act (1980), and the revised Culture Department structure is intended to strengthen policy leadership and operational efficiency.
The breadth of the January 28 Cabinet meeting demonstrates the new administration’s determination to move swiftly on the social and institutional reforms promised during the election campaign.
📷 Image source: Office of the President — statehouse.gov.sc
