As questions grow over a proposed deal between the government here and the University of the West Indies for the training of 20,000 Guyanese, the University of Guyana (UG) today said that it has “not ceded its mandate”.
In a release, UG says it has carefully noted the statement issued on Wednesday entitled `UWI Going to Guyana’ and given its external source, UG reads it not as a national policy statement but as one of “grand intention”.
The Guyana Government has not yet issued a statement on the proposed scheme to train 20,000 persons but in an address yesterday to the Guyana Defence Force’s (GDF) Anniversary Dinner, President Irfaan Ali stated the identical number when he said that more GDF members will registered in academic programmes aligned to the development needs of the country. He also described the proposed training of the 20,000 Guyanese as scholarships.
UG’s release yesterday said that as the national brain trust, “supplying over 70% of graduates to Guyana and 30% exports”, it wished to assure that it is in preliminary talks on online education and scholarships.
“The national University has not ceded its mandate and responsibilities and UG is now offering more than 1000 courses online as part of `The University of Guyana Blueprint 2040’ strategy framework”, the release said.
UG added that it also routinely collaborates with over 100 regional and international institutions and recognises the scope for and benefits of a variety of higher education players in the national space. The University, therefore, continues to assist in ensuring these matters are approached “strategically, inclusively and synergistically”, the release added.
“At 57 years old, as Guyana’s oldest institution founded in 1963 before independence, the University of Guyana is the embodiment of a nation’s promise. UG will continue to work towards fulfilling that promise with all progressive entities in the best interest of our University, faculty, students and people of our beloved country”, the University added.
The exclusion of any mention of UG in the UWI press release has raised eyebrows and called into question government’s plans for the university. UG has been short of resources for many years and the expectation would have been that the state would invest in the university to enable it to offer the requisite training to the 20,000 persons that the government is targeting.
