University of Guyana (UG) lecturers yesterday began a sit-in to protest the recent dismissal of lecturers, including Freddie Kissoon, and the conditions at the Turkeyen campus.
Several students and staff of UG’s Turkeyen Campus along with the members of the public have been protesting the dismissal of Kissoon, which PPP/C members of the university council are continuing to defend. The protests have also been highlighting the conditions under which they are forced to study and work and this cry for assistance was apparently heard as construction work was evident yesterday at the George Walcott Lecture Theatre (GWLT), which students have repeatedly said has been leaking.
When Stabroek News visited the campus yesterday, few students were seen, although some classes did go on.
Duane Edwards, President of the University of Guyana Students Society (UGSS) said that the sit-in began sometime around 2:30pm. He pointed out that members of the ‘Operation Rescue UG’ group walked around the entire campus yesterday afternoon and observed that the movement had intensified, with several staff members of the administration department joining forces with them.
“It was a good feeling to see the majority participating in the industrial action. However, there were about two lecturers who continued to lecture,” Edwards noted, while adding that a couple of students turned out and remained on standby in the case of a protest.
Edwards stated that they have received no official response from the letters that were sent out to government officials last week. However, he said, Vice-Chancellor Lawrence Carrington wrote to them indicating that he had asked Pro-Chancellor, Prem Misir, to convene a meeting with them.
At the meeting, Edwards stated that the protesting groups registered their concerns but were not guaranteed any results. “The Pro-Chancellor listened and made notes,” he said.
“Our actions are still in process and the sit-in will continue until we get some reasonable resolutions to our problems. Thanks to students for their input,” Edwards added, while acknowledging that some work on the ceiling of GWLT had started.
When contacted, Kissoon said he was not aware of what had been transpiring at the university since he had been absent for “strategic reasons.”
Meanwhile, the Government Information Agency (GINA) noted a recent programme on the National Communications Network (NCN) on which UG Council Member and attorney Bibi Shadick, Pro-Chancellor Misir and Professor Calvin Eversley, who specializes in jurisprudence and equity in the Department of Law, appeared.
Shadick, according to GINA, stated that Kissoon had reached the age of retirement and as is normal, rendered his
services until the end of the academic year. She pointed out that what happened afterwards was against the law, as Kissoon and others were given post-retirement contracts for a year, which were illegal and were subsequently deemed null.
Certain considerations
“After the age of retirement, there are certain considerations that are taken before persons are re-employed and January 18 (the date Kissoon’s dismissal was announced) was the end of a protracted period since August,” she stated.
It was noted that Kissoon’s position was advertised and there were eight applicants, four of whom were employed as lecturers.
In a case of re-employment, Shadick explained, the retiree must have some special skill or performs a specific function which another person can not effectively carry out. In Kissoon’s case, she said, this was not established.
In addition, the retiree’s academic/research profile must be taken into consideration and it was indicated that in the documents that were presented to the council, no evidence of independent research was attributed to Kissoon.
“If somebody is going to stay at the university for over 20 years and reach the age of 60 and is still at the level of lecturer one or two, then something has to be lacking,” Shadick said.
GINA noted that two Appointment Committee meetings were held in October and November last year specifically to deal with post-retirement contracts and all that were awarded outside of the statutes, all of which were deemed null, were thoroughly discussed.
It noted that traditionally contracts are offered to professors, readers and senior lecturers since they have already established themselves as persons from whose expertise the university can benefit. The contracts of people in this category, which includes Dr. Henry Jeffrey, were eventually accepted and approved.
“Four contracts out of the list that was examined by the Committee were referred to the Council for decision, three of which were signed with Dr. Patrick Williams who is employed fulltime by UG as well as the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) since 1998; Lawrence Bancroft, a 60-year old Lecturer One who barely satisfies the research requirement, and Kissoon,” it said.
