And Public Service Minister Jennifer Westford on Wednesday cautioned students on scholarships against getting pregnant or their scholarships could be terminated.
The proviso was stipulated during a press conference she shared with resident Mexican Ambassador to Guyana Fernando Sandoval at which they discussed the Mexican/Caribbean Scholarship programme under which 10 Guyanese would benefit.
In recent times four Guyanese were given the opportunity to graduate from a university in Mexico under another mechanism but the two countries have now moved to the official scholarship programme which gets underway in April next year. It will last for three years and will now be a yearly occurrence.
Ambassador Sandoval explained that the scholarships are available in many areas of specialty but in keeping with the developmental thrust Guyana has identified the areas of agriculture, health, communication and technology .
He said Mexico is looking to strengthen relations with Guyana and the rest of the Caribbean and since education is an issue to which his country attaches much significance, he said he felt this was a critical area of co-operation.
He noted too that the scholarships being offered were part of his country’s programme to honour its 200th year of independence.
The scholarships cover enrolment and school fees, complete medical coverage and will also see students receiving a US$400 stipend.
The stipend is expected to cover accommodation and miscellaneous expenses. Candidates will have to sit and pass an examination and also go through an interview process with Mexican personnel.
The scholarship opportunity has already been advertised in the daily newspapers and interested students have until January 29 to apply.
Sandoval acknowledged that the number of scholarships may not be enough but he explained that his country like others was going through a financial crisis.
He pointed out that in the past four Guyanese students had gone to Mexico and their performances were commendable.
Terminate scholarship
Dr. Westford extended gratitude to the Mexican government for the move and made reference to the ongoing Cuban/Guyana scholarship programme as she stressed that similar rules would obtain. She pointed out that the Government of Guyana would still make the US$75 per month stipend available.
She noted that students under that programme were made to sign a code of conduct which stipulates that certain things are prohibited and could even lead to the termination of their scholarships.
In this regard the minister was questioned on how prevalent pregnancy among students was since reports had indicated that some students had to be sent home after it was found that they were pregnant.
She pointed out that so far for this year no student was found to be pregnant. However last year there were three students who were pregnant and five the year before.
“We are not and cannot say you cannot have sex but what we can say is don’t get pregnant or your scholarship could be terminated,” she urged.
She said that in some instances the rules were changed considering the stage of the student’s study when she became pregnant.
Westford noted that there have been cases where a fourth year student got pregnant and due to outstanding performance or the fact that they had come that far the Cuban government would write asking for leniency which would allow the student to return to continue.
“In this day and age of HIV, why would they want to have unprotected sexual intercourse, the minister queried, stating that the risk was more reason why students should not get pregnant.
The minister said she is hopeful that the message was well received and that students would avoid pregnancy.
