-APNU condemns decision
The University of Guyana (UG) Council’s dismissal of lecturer Freddie Kissoon was based on his job performance, Dean of the Social Sciences faculty O’Neil Greaves said yesterday.
Kissoon, who has been teaching at the university for the past 26 years, received his termination letter on Monday afternoon but it did not include the reason for the decision.
Greaves, when contacted for clarification on the reason for the termination, explained that it “had to do with his performance. There were varying views.” He indicated that he was not in possession of all the details and referred this newspaper to the acting Registrar Dr Theodosius Velloza.
When this newspaper called Dr. Velloza’s office at the University’s Turkeyen campus, the secretary said that the registrar was in a meeting. Following queries as to when would be an appropriate time to call back, the secretary said that Dr. Velloza was not taking any calls. Pro-Chancellor Prem Misir, when contacted on Monday, said that he did not have all the details and referred this newspaper to Dr. Velloza.
Asked about the impact that the termination would have on the hundreds of Kissoon’s students, Greaves said that he could not assess it at this point as efforts are being made to find a replacement. The new semester is scheduled to begin on Monday.
Greaves stressed that the department is “making progress” while noting that until the programmes (courses) start, “we would not be able to make the full assessment.”
But Kissoon, who had his annual contract renewed from September, last year, said that he had to submit a Curriculum Vitae and evidence of research to members of the university, including the Dean.
“If it was my performance, when did this come up?” he asked. He said that while at the council meeting last October, no mention was made about his performance. He said “they are obsessed with being in control. The combined opposition have to stop this behaviour by the government.”
It has been pointed out that if performance was the issue then Kissoon should have been given a hearing and allowed to defend himself. There was no such occasion.
‘Violation’
Meanwhile, the main opposition APNU, in a statement, condemned the termination as “a violation of academic freedom and press freedom.” Describing Kissoon as “an outspoken political scientist and newspaper columnist,” the opposition party accused the ruling PPP/C of using “its voting power on the UG Council to terminate the lecturer’s contract in the middle of an academic year, a few months before it would have come up for review.”
“APNU regards this recent act as a violation of Kissoon’s right to freedom of expression as a columnist, academic freedom as a lecturer and civil rights as a citizen,” the statement said, adding that the move comes at a time when UG is already in crisis and has been finding it difficult to attract lecturers in several academic departments.
APNU also noted that Kissoon had a “natural right” to be informed of the reasons for the termination of his contract and called for him to be reinstated.
Yesterday, Kissoon and his lawyers were contemplating their next move. He told Stabroek News that APNU leader David Granger, the coalition’s youth arm executive James Bond and the youth arm of the Alliance For Change (AFC), among others, have condemned the termination and have pledged their full support to him.
He noted that “they wanted to get at me since October last,” while explaining that the Vice-Chancellor had awarded a number of contracts to lecturers. “They asked the Vice-Chancellor to rescind the contracts because it is the council [that] signs and approves these contracts,” he said. Kissoon explained that the council was told that that could not be done.
He said that since last October there was no council meeting until last Wednesday. For anyone to be dismissed, he added, there had to be a complaint. As far as he knew, there was no complaint against him.
“The council can act on a complaint. There was no complaint for the council to terminate my contract,” he said, while adding that on receiving a complaint, the council would inform the university, which would investigate and refer its findings to the council for a decision.
He said that the council cannot act on a complaint by itself.
The termination letter which was signed by Dr. Velloza had said that “In keeping with the decision of the Council of the University of Guyana at its meeting of Wednesday, January 18, 2012 and in accordance with the terms of your present contract, your appointment as Lecturer 11 (full-time), on a temporary basis, is hereby terminated with immediate effect.”
It further stated that Kissoon will be paid three months’ salary and housing allowance, pro rated gratuity computed on the basis of ten percent of basic salary for period September 1, 2011 to January 22, 2012 and salary and housing allowance in lieu of 12 days accrued terminal leave.
Kissoon will today attend a meeting with the UG Student Society (UGSS), the university union and senior staff to plan a response to his termination.
