Government has called for a review of the University of Guyana (UG) strategic plan, which Education Minister Shaik Baksh said is tied to any increased funding for the institution.
Baksh, according to the Government Information Agency (GINA), said government is committed to improving the University, but Cabinet has raised concerns about certain aspects of the plan.
In fact, he said 19 concerns were cited and pointed out to the administration at UG but to date there has been no amendments.
Baksh’s statements on the institution followed reports that Vice Chancellor Lawrence Carrington is distressed at UG’s finances. Carrington also bemoaned the lack of government support for the institution in a recent report he authored, while pointing out that the financial situation at the campus was dire.
UG’s proposed strategic plan 2009-2012 was approved by the University Council in 2009 and Baksh told reporters on Monday that it had been subjected to a lot of discussions both at the Ministry and Cabinet levels. He said after Cabinet did not accept the plan in its entirety, UG was given the opportunity to conduct a revision of the plan with a view to incorporate the concerns that were expressed.
Baksh said that government gave the green light for the University to proceed with the implementation of certain aspects of the plan, which did not require the expenditure of financial resources, such as increasing managerial and operational efficiencies.
He said too that when Carrington was recruited to head the University, government made the terms of reference clear; he would identify internal constraints to the implementation of the strategic plan (capacity, managerial and systematic weakness), examine proposals to be put up by the campus to achieve efficiency gains in its overall operations and implement strong measures to improve quality assurance.
Of the concerns raised, it was recommended that UG should consider means by which the majority of social science registration can lead to increases in science and technology.
Secondly, it was pointed out that the Turkeyen campus should consider a radical shift towards distance mode and Information Technology delivery as a primary rather than a supporting mode of delivery of tertiary education.
GINA quoted Baksh as saying that another recommendation was UG should begin to plan for the long-term future of the campus and nation, which should be significantly different from what obtains at present.
Baksh said also that government has been increasing its contribution to UG, noting the institution received $1.1B in 2010 and this year it received $1.218B, an eight percent increase. Additionally, he noted that the university’s subvention has been bumped up from $686M in 2010 to $707M in 2011.
On the issue of operational deficit, Baksh said there was a substantial increase in emoluments for academic staff from $775M in 2009 to $845M in 2010. “We were expecting some prudence on the part of the university in terms of its overall programming as there are some programmes that are being run with small numbers of students, which is not economical,” GINA quoted him saying.
Baksh said the University has been calling on government to increase tuition fees, while adding that the administration is prepared to explore this but would not endeavour to do so unless it was satisfied the overall review of programmes will bring about greater efficiency in the university’s operations.
He observed that more needs to be done at the University and said the government has noted with concern the prolonged registration processes at UG, in addition to many lecturers not marking scripts on time, thus creating problems when it rolls over into the new semester.
He recommended the implementation of the external examiner system, which has worked well for the University of the West Indies. Further, the Minister said concerns have been raised with regards to the quality of graduates because the private sector claims that many of the proposals that were recommended subsequent to a consultation with the University were not acted upon.
Baksh pointed out that a US$10M fund from the World Bank will be made available to UG shortly to specifically focus on improving the curriculum and teaching, infrastructural rehabilitation (modernising all laboratories and enhancing sanitation, and electricity and water supply), and strengthening the maintenance strategy and plan of the institution.
He also made mention of a $60M project which will be funded by the Caribbean Develop-ment Bank and is expected to come on stream through technical assistance. “We have a vested interest to ensure that the university performs at its optimum efficiency, so that the graduates who are coming out of the university are the best,” he added.
