Arguing that Guyana cannot afford to continue neglecting the needs of its university, Vice-Chancellor Lawrence Carrington has expressed grave concern over the dire financial situation at the institution and pointed to the lack response from the government to a plea for more money.
UG has been forced to approach the Ministry of Education to petition the Ministry of Finance for a review of the subvention this year. He said a request for a subvention of $846,657,000 was made for 2011, but UG received $707,830,000, which is inadequate.
Professor Carrington reported on the financial troubles facing the institution in his Vice-Chancellor report to the university’s Council on February 28, 2011, which this newspaper has seen. The money problems aside, he frankly assessed the situation and shared how difficult things have been.
“This circumstance is particularly distressing because when I assumed my appointment as Vice-Chancellor, indications were (at levels of the Government to which I had access) that the Government would seek to increase its support once the University had an approved strategic plan and had taken steps to deal with quality assurance issues.”
He continued that Guyana cannot afford the continued neglect of the needs of its university, noting that the stakes for its developmental pathway are too high to allow the university to founder on an ebb-tide of funding, care and provision.
Carrington revealed that the strategic plan was approved by the Council in December 2009 and that they have started the pathway to formal quality assurance by having a formative intervention by consultants for UWI, by appointing a coordinator. He said too that they are also working with the Commonwealth of Learning to advance the process.
Carrington said the University’s continuing deficit and its impact on its cash flow is sufficient basis for an increase in the 2011 subvention; the University is now requesting that an addition sum of $250M be the minimum consideration by the Finance Ministry.
For the last three years, he said the University’s financial statements have shown an operational deficit in excess of $150M for each year- the Student Loan Agency was requested to advance $200M in each of those years, in order to pay the deficit. Still, he observed that this has not been a solution to the campus’ deficit operations.
UG’s audited statement as at July 31, 2010 showed an overall net deficit of $255,495,381 and an overall bank balance of $29,360,300. Apart from the general rise in price for goods, services and salary, the subventions granted from 2005-2009 were insufficient to sustain the across-the-board salary increases approved in the previous year, he noted.
The logical assumption, he said, was that since the salary increase was an approved cost, the subventions would have increased by at least the amount required to sustain the increase. He said the University has consistently argued that if the subvention from the National Budget cannot be adequately increased, then the tuition fees charged should be reviewed. But to date, no positive response has been given.
He noted that the 2011 budget make provision for the a few things to initiate the necessary improvements in response to concerns from all stakeholders and cited the establishment of a quality assurance unit; resuscitation of the Consultancy Arm; an offer of administrative services at the registry all day until 6 pm and a provision of medical clinic service at the Tain campus among other things. However, they have been unable to obtain the additional funding required.
“It is my hope that those members of the Council whose substantive professional positions and functions as appointees of the Government of Guyana permit them access to government circles will use their influence to lobby for the alleviation of the predicament in which the University of Guyana now lives,” Carrington said.
He also touched on the current shortage of teachers in Guyana, saying that it is only one index of the desperate human resource capacity deficiency in the country. He added, “it will not be satisfactorily resolved by the importation of teachers or other skilled professionals from other countries.”
