Some students and staff of the University of Guyana’s Turkeyen Campus along with the members of the public yesterday braved the inclement weather as they protested in front of the Administration Department over the recent termination of lecturer Freddie Kissoon.
Some 50 protesters, comprising a few students who were on campus, lecturers and members of the public were all angry at the abrupt dismissal of Kissoon and said that if he were to be terminated for poor performance, he should be given a fair hearing.
The protesters chanted, “Who must go? Council must go! When they must go? Long ago!” and “Stop the firing! Start the hiring!” as the marched in circles in front of the administration building.
The organizers said they will be protesting until their demands are met and Kissoon is reinstated. They said a protest was long overdue because of the rapid dropping of standards at the institution, and the removal of some of the staff benefits.
Alliance For Change member Gerhard Ramsaroop said, “This protest is long overdue. It’s not just the Freddie Kissoon issue, it’s the way in which the university has been run for such a long time and also the conditions the university finds itself in. This is supposed to be the top institution in our country.”
He added that Kissoon’s termination is absolutely “unjust” and if poor performance is the reason for his termination, he must be given an avenue to defend himself as the council cannot just decide that he has been performing poorly.
Lecturer Hect Edwards from the Faculty of Social Sciences said the concern of the protestors is the inconsistency of the treatment of Kissoon. He said they knew for a fact that there were similar issues being dealt with and that there was more to it than what was being given as the reason Kissoon’s contract was terminated.
He added that no one can justify the reason given for the termination and distributive justice was lacking in the situation. The approach taken by the council will undermine the institution, he said, adding that
some lecturers feel that this is the start of the dismantling of the university.
“To avoid or to reduce the time in which it [the dismantling] will happen we feel that we need to come out and let our voices be heard because if we do not they will take things for granted and feel anything can happen.”
With classes resuming on Monday, there are concerns that there is no replacement for Kissoon as yet and the students will be the ones to suffer.
Kissoon’s contract was terminated during a council meeting last Wednesday. Although he is a member of the council, Kissoon said he was not invited to the meeting. His termination letter, delivered on Monday, did not outline why he was dismissed and Dean of the Social Sciences Faculty O’Neil Greaves would only say that the decision was based on his job performance.
The council has since said that its deliberations are confidential pointing out that media reports contained “errors of fact, misguided deductions and information without a context for its evaluation”, but did not outline what they were. There was no attempt by the council to correct those errors.
Pro Chancellor Prem Misir and Greaves had directed all questions on the matter to Registrar (ag) Dr Theodosius Velloza, who had signed the termination letter. Despite numerous attempts over the last few days, this newspaper has been unable to speak with Dr Velloza.
Kissoon has been teaching at the institution for the past 26 years. Last year, the university took a decision to hire him on a yearly contact basis. His contract would have ended on August 31.
Kissoon who is also a columnist and political activist has since sought legal advice since he believes that his termination was politically motivated. He has been a harsh critic of the government.
