Dear Editor,
In his November 14 letter entitled ‘UG students used their voices to demonstrate their frustrations,’ Dr David Hinds proffered that the University of Guyana (UG) has been marginalized by the government. As a consequence, Dr Hinds went on to argue that the students had every right to disrespect Mr Donald Ramotar during the recent presidential debate that was held at UG.
With your permission, let me provide some facts about the PPP/C government’s posture to UG, and by extension, the students who attend this institution.
Firstly, it must be noted that it was the PNC which brought an end to ‘free education’ at the university level when it agreed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to implement tuition fees as a cost recovery measure at UG.
Notwithstanding its inability to reverse this decision, the PPP/C government was instrumental in maintaining the tuition fees at the current levels. Given the fact that the current tuition fees are extremely low by international standards, the government should be commended for its efforts to maintain the fee structures at UG.
Apart from maintaining low tuition fees, the government has also created the students loan programme in order to make university education accessible to all, especially the poor and vulnerable. The only requirement for accessing a student loan is the signature of a guarantor. Further, student loans are granted on concessional terms and to every student regardless of his/her ethnicity. Given the low fees and the existence of the student loan facility, it is therefore no surprise that students are attracted to the institution. This is clearly evident from the continuous increase in the student intake over the years.
It is also noteworthy that the government has injected substantial funds into the university to buttress the revenues generated from student fees. The annual budgetary allocation (both capital and current) as well as the amounts loaned to students from 2001 to 2010 are provided in the table below.
Funds provided to students and the University of Guyana: 2002-2010
G$ Millions
Sources: Budget Speech and National Estimates (various years).
In addition to its annual budgetary allocation, the government has also allocated US$20 million ($1billion) to the university to establish a modern bio-diversity centre and upgrade its lab facilities in the 2010 national budget.
In view of the foregoing, it is therefore unfair for Dr Hinds to accuse the government of marginalizing the institution or its students. More importantly, it is cynical for Dr Hinds to claim that UG is being neglected because of the ethnicity of those associated with the institution. In my humble opinion, given the imminence of the 2011 elections, the letter by Dr Hinds is intended to encourage ethnic voting. This is unacceptable for an academic of his standing.
Yours faithfully,
Sukrishnalall Pasha
