Social work in the context of child protection in Seychelles: educational preparedness from a global and local perspective

ABSTRACT

Child protection’s complexity requires localized understanding within social work. This paper focuses on the child protection system in the Republic of Seychelles and evaluates social workers’ preparedness within this context. Through a historical analysis of social work in Seychelles and an exploration of the current child protection system with an emphasis on the educational readiness of social workers for child protection work, this study investigates the unique challenges/opportunities in this field. This study uses an exploratory case study method to analyze the educational preparedness of social workers in child protection work and identify key strategies for improving practice outcomes in Seychelles. Findings show that the education of social workers, especially at the bachelor’s degree level, is more tuned to generic training in the social work profession than specializations in specific fields of practice like child protection. Recommendations for enhancing social work practice in Seychelles and other similar contexts are given, highlighting the need for further research.

KEYWORDS:

• Social workers
• child protection
• educational preparedness
• Seychelles
• social work

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Specific Research Scheme 2024, “Integrative Approaches in Social Work and Social Policy: Multidisciplinary Perspectives and Innovative Strategies for Enhancing the Effectiveness and Sustainability of Professional Practice in Social Work and Social Policy.” Department of Social Policy and Social Work, Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University Project code [MUNI/A/1553/2023].