University of Guyana students from the Faculty of Agriculture yesterday came out in support of improvements at the institution and in solidarity with dismissed lecturer Freddie Kissoon.
They made a brief bid to block the entrance of the Turkeyen campus which resulted in several police officers arriving at the scene.
“These students are taking their own initiative because they are suffering from all the problems and issues we have pointed out earlier and on the placards, they are talking about the run-down labs, the dilapidated structures that they have to learn in and a whole host of problems,” University of Guyana Students Society (UGSS) President, Duane Edwards, told this newspaper.
UG lecturers and several members of the student body have been protesting against the dismissal of lecturers, in particular Kissoon, and the conditions at the Turkeyen campus.
Yesterday, the Agriculture faculty came out as a single body to highlight issues affecting them and in doing so, blocked the main entrance for several minutes. According to Edwards, this was not a sustained effort as the police were soon called in. No arrests were made and the protest continued.
Speaking on behalf of the group of approximately 20, Bernice Anthony, a final year student in the faculty of agriculture, said they are addressing specific problems being experienced such as insufficient lecturers and the condition of the university.
Meagerly
“We have lecturers who are qualified and are staying here but are paid meagerly. We need someone who is going to look into all the problems we are having. We need classrooms; GWLT is a leaking classroom… We have classrooms in the stables like horses. The bathrooms are always dirty and the classrooms are always messy and so is the general environment of campus,” she stated.
She explained that she and her classmates cannot have practical sessions nor can they work in the labs as the university is lacking basic equipment for these areas. “A lot of persons are going to graduate from here with a lot of book knowledge and have no idea how to put that into practice,” she pointed out.
Anthony called on the relevant authorities to come forward and give the students a hearing and take action to have these issues resolved.
“We need someone who will come and talk to us because not only are we students of the University of Guyana, we happen to be the future leaders. We are the doctors you will come and see a few years from now. We need them to come and not talk to us from a political point of view but mainly on the interest of UG,” she said while adding that this newly formed group fully supports the sit-in being conducted by lecturers.
Undersurface
Meanwhile, Edwards told Stabroek News that as much as the ongoing work on the ceiling of the George Walcott Lecture Theatre is appreciated, it is thought to be insulting since their concerns are more “deep-rooted”.
“As much as we would appreciate any work being done on any building, we find it kind of disrespectful to our intelligence, to think that some undersurface work will be sufficient so as to get us back into a mode of normalcy,” the UGSS President argued.
With regards to the recent meeting held between Pro-Chancellor Prem Misir and member of the ‘Operation Rescue UG’, Edwards said they were only able to register their grievances in a formal way. “We didn’t go there to make any commitment or have any commitment. There were some promises forthcoming from the pro-chancellor about physical works on campus. He said he will look into it,” the UGSS President said, adding that there has been no response to letters sent out to government officials.
President of the University of Guyana Senior Staff Association (UGSSA) Patsy Francis said that a second meeting was hosted yesterday with Misir who promised to provide feedback by tomorrow.
“We spoke of the things that are affecting us and the areas that can be addressed right away such as the physical aspects like the toilet and the leaking ceilings and he said he will make a list and should we need to add anything we should,” she said.
Other issues discussed, she said, was that of Kissoon’s termination and the World Bank loan to fix laboratories. The UG Vice-Chancellor recently pointed out that this US$10M arrangement is yet to be signed by the government.
Francis said that there was not much movement on the Kissoon issue and she pointed out to Misir that there is no lecturer for that specific course.
“We don’t want no first degree people to come in… we will provide a list of all the courses that don’t have lecturers and the large classes with first degree lecturers… These classrooms should have trained and persons with PhD. Persons coming in don’t have the depth of knowledge to cope with the load and large classes,” she opined.
Francis said she is optimistic that Misir and other council members can collectively work with them towards a solution with the best interest of the students. “By Friday we will come up with a solution and hopefully we can move forward,” she said.
She further stated that APNU Leader David Granger was also asked for his involvement in taking on the issues faced by the students at the university. “We asked him if, within his position, he can help since he had said he has a grave interest in the university and he promised to do all he can but he has to be provided with the necessary information to make a factual presentation,” Francis stated.
