Students and some lecturers will move to shutdown operations at the Turkeyen Campus of the University of Guyana (UG) today to protest the dismissal of lecturer Freddie Kissoon, which they say was a political move.
The University of Guyana Students Society (UGSS), the University of Guyana Senior Staff Association (UGSSA) and the University of Guyana Workers Union (UGWU) are supporting the shutdown, which is part of a joint “Operation Rescue UG” initiative, through which they are lobbying to have lecturers whose contracts were terminated reinstated with dignity.
They are also concerned about what they characterise as an apparent move to get rid of Vincent Alexander, the current registrar, whose contract will expire shortly.
President of the University of Guyana Students Society (UGSS) Duane Edwards, noting that students are the ones who will suffer from the loss of Kissoon, said their protest action was with the students’ interest at heart.
At a gathering of over 200 persons in the George Walcott Lecture Theatre, Kissoon said that they will be taking drastic action against the nonsense, while telling the students that civilization is moved by the young people.
“When we speak about youth, we speak about passion and rebellion,” Kissoon told students to loud cheers, while urging that they do the right thing and speak out against the inadequacy of their education.
Reflecting on his past at the university, he urged the students to stop the judgment of them by political criteria, and emphasised that they must be judged by their peers and academics.
President of UGSSA Dr Patsy Francis said she is passionate about education but lamented that the university is the laughing stock of the Caribbean.
“I am calling on you young people to do as I have done and to stand up for your rights… You have to stand where you are and demand what you need,” she said.
The students and lecturers said they will be protesting today in front of the administrative building on the campus at 12 pm. A rally is also planned. Dr Francis urged the students to come out and protest, warning that if they don’t their “fate will be horrible” as they would receive a poor standard of education.
Meanwhile, the “Operation Rescue UG” grouping, in a press release, expressed deep concern about the lack of transparency, lack of accountability and apparent bias displayed by government representatives on the University Council in arriving at the decision to advertise the position of Registrar. It also noted that the lecturers whose contracts were terminated were seasoned teachers and that the move will have harmful effects on students, who are already faced with insufficient and inadequately trained lecturers. In direct reference to Kissoon, they said the decision on his contract seemed to be a political move on behalf of the PPP/C government because of his constant criticism of the administration’s policies. They also rejected the interference of the university council in the academic affairs of the university, while insisting that the departments and faculties are best positioned to determine their staffing needs.
The UGSSA, UGSS and UGWU, the release said, are prepared to take all legal and industrial measures to restore academic and administrative order at the University of Guyana. “While we intend to fully resist political interference and victimization, we are prepared to work with all stakeholders, including the government, the administration and the council to secure better working conditions for all categories of staff and better quality education for our students,” the statement said.
To this end, they have written to Speaker of the National Assembly Raphael Trotman, requesting an inquiry by a parliamentary committee into the roles and functions of government appointees on the university council and on the Appointments Committee. They contend that these appointees undermine the smooth functioning of the university, while saying that there is a lack of transparency, lack of accountability and a lack of parity. They add that there is financing strangulation and manipulation of the university by the state, noting that there are extremely poor and deteriorating conditions at the university that negatively impact the quality of education received by students.
They groups have also sent a letter to President Donald Ramotar requesting a meeting to discuss the roles and functions of government appointees on the council over the recent contract terminations and the decision to advertise the position of Registrar. On the latter point, they note that the decision was made instead of using a performance-based mechanism to evaluate the incumbent as occurred in the instances when the contracts of the Bursar John and the Director of Berbice Campus Professor Daizal Samad ended. They are also hopeful of talks on the World Bank-negotiated US$10 million loan to rehabilitate those faculties involved in Science and Technology and enhance the quality of science education as well as the need to urgently enhance the salaries and emoluments to retain and attract quality employees.
Despite the University of Guyana’s financial straits, the government is still to activate the loan, which is intended to overhaul the science and technology departments, outgoing Vice-Chancellor Professor Lawrence Carrington revealed last Friday. Carrington dubbed the negotiation of the World Bank Science and Technology Support Project the “single most important success,” but reported that the loan to the government is not yet activated because the Minister of Finance Dr Ashni Singh is still to sign a crucial financial loan document.
