The National Youth Service Campus in Port Launay

In the year 1979, the National Youth Service was born as a mass organization to shape the Seychellois youth. The government intended to pull the disadvantaged from the shadows of bad habits and alcoholism, forging instead a body of educated administrators. It was a central endeavor to create a generation with many skills to serve the land.

Students resided at campuses in Port Launay and Cap Ternay on the northwest coast of Mahé. These grounds were divided into male and female sections containing clusters. Each cluster housed approximately 40 students who wore uniforms of brown and beige with red scarves. They received practical instruction in gardening, cooking, housekeeping, and livestock raising.

Though intended for academic training, the program was a site of heated opposition. Critics whispered of ideological indoctrination as participants were rarely permitted to see their families. In the early years, students stayed away from home entirely, with parents allowed only 12 hours twice per month. Because of this and the opposition to the regime, many wealthy families sent their children to Europe or Australia instead.

By 1991, the program was reduced to one year, and it finally ceased its operations in November 1998. The site remains a historic ruin today. It marks a period when the state aimed to provide skills and safety to students from poorer backgrounds who were not afforded such things at home.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata