Youth in Seychelles can now gain their bachelor’s and master’s degrees without leaving their home countries. This is one way higher education in Seychelles is contributing to the fight against global poverty.

Seychelles is a small nation in the Indian Ocean, off the east coast of Africa, composed of more than 115 islands. One of the most significant changes in the country is the establishment of the University of Seychelles. This advancement in higher education in Seychelles is pushing poverty rates downwards.

Statistics

In 2019, the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) found that 11.8% of Seychellois (around 10,731 to 14,319 people) were living in multidimensional poverty. The poverty index (MPI) was highest for the youth age group (15 to 24 years) at 16.46%. These youth were “particularly affected by ‘Overcrowding’, ‘Substance use/abuse’, ‘School attendance’ and ‘Youth NEET’” (Not in Employment, Education or Training).

Seychellois youth had little to work towards after their high school education—likely causing the country-wide difficulty with school attendance. Without sufficient ways to access higher education in Seychelles, it was also more difficult for residents to attain higher-paying, professional jobs.

Seychelles have been home to six post-secondary schools since the 1980s, all located on the largest island, Mahé. There was no public or private university. Not only would youths have to leave their home islands to get an education beyond high school, but the nearest public universities were all miles away in different countries. The lack of opportunity in the country was keeping Seychellois youth from moving out of poverty.

Brain Drain

Additionally, the lack of university lab facilities and jobs has caused brain drain in Seychelles. Brain drain is the loss of tertiary-educated citizens to jobs abroad—the country is losing its brightest minds. According to the World Bank’s data and IMF labor statistics, “Mauritius and Seychelles have documented the highest brain drain rates globally—both losing over half their tertiary-educated workforce to migration.”

Seychelles had to continuously fund the migration of foreign professionals into the country. Due to the continuing lack of resources, “foreign professionals typically serve [one to three] year contracts before advancing to better opportunities, creating perpetual recruitment cycles that prevent institutional development.” This is a cycle that keeps Seychellois citizens under-educated and in poverty.

University of Seychelles

In 2009, the government of Seychelles opened the University of Seychelles (UniSey) as a counter to brain drain. As the first institution of higher education in Seychelles, they originally worked with the University of London to develop curricula and train faculty, UniSey has begun developing its own programs and relationships with other academic institutions. UniSey offers 13 bachelor’s degrees, four master’s programs and two PhD programs in the business field. As of 2026, it plans to further develop its campus by 2035 with improved research facilities and sustainable infrastructure.

The Good News

UniSey is one of the most promising public universities in Africa, and it’s already having a positive effect on Seychelles. Increasing access to education is known to improve poverty rates on the national scale. The World Bank’s funds access to higher education on the basis that it “can make an important contribution to building a stronger society, ending extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity. It can serve the community by contributing knowledge and advanced skills as well as basic competencies and research. Knowledge plays a growing role in the global economy, driving economic growth and productivity.”

The OPHDI found that the education level of the head of household directly correlated to severity of poverty in Seychelles: “those with no schooling, [have] the highest MPI (0.115), and the MPI decreases as the education level increases.” Allowing residents to access higher education in Seychelles will pull more people out of poverty.

In Seychelles, multidimensional poverty has dropped from 11.8% of the population to 0.9%. That’s a 92% decrease in only six years.

The Cost

A bachelor’s degree at UniSey can cost 65,000 to 165,000 Seychellois rupees per year ($4,860.12 to $12,337.22), and postgraduate degrees can range from 72,000 to 100,000 ($5383.51 to $7477.10). While these tuition costs are low compared to the United States, cost can still prevent impoverished people from accessing higher education in Seychelles.

UniSey offers several scholarships to students on its website, and dozens of scholarships are available on the Seychelles Ministry of Education website. Most of the fully funded scholarships focus on computer technology and machine learning, fields that are expected to continue growing in the near future. If potential students would prefer to pursue the humanities, there are also scholarships funded by foreign governments in international politics, law and business that include a job offer upon completion of the degree. 

If an impoverished student cannot get a scholarship, their other option is to take out loans. The Seychellois Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning, Trade and Investment has begun offering its own loan scheme as of 2023. The principles underpinning this choice are “the Government recognizes education as a key sector for the socio-economic transformation of our country” and “investment in our people’s education represent an investment for the future of our country.” The choice to offer a government loan for higher education in Seychelles in fields that directly benefit the Seychellois economy is a direct push against poverty.

Looking Ahead

Seychelles is continuously fighting poverty in its country, but the fight is not over. One of their biggest factors in multidimensional poverty is still schooling, and the University of Seychelles can only take small cohorts of students, usually around 300 to 400. As UniSey and the Seychellois economy continue to expand, there’s hope that more families will be able to access higher education in Seychelles and escape poverty.

– Isabella Law

Isabella is based in Pilesgrove, NJ, USA and focuses on Good News for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Flickr