Guyana needs an urgent national conversation and consensus to determine the way forward for the University of Guyana (UG), the AFC said yesterday, while warning that the institution’s current conditions will only lead to a general collapse.
In a statement issued yesterday, the party said that the university continues to be underfunded and it accused the government of ignoring the pleas from staff and students for urgent attention and transformation.
“The Guyana Government still does not recognise that the quality of tertiary education in developing countries must be a top development priority,” the party said, while arguing that the administration continually argues that tertiary education cannot be prioritised as the emphasis must remain on the nursery, primary and secondary levels. “This argument reflects a mistaken perception that investment in the University will not yield appreciable returns and has led to chronic under-financing of UG. The university is now almost crippled with de-motivated staff whose remuneration is insufficient to attract and retain highly qualified faculty; underdeveloped curricula, decrepit infrastructure and ill-equipped students. In such circumstances, the potential of tertiary education to promote development in Guyana cannot be realised,” it added.
According to the AFC, developing countries require higher education to provide students with specialised skills; to generate a body of students with a general education that supports innovation and flexibility; to instruct students in current knowledge and teach them how to continually update their knowledge; and to enhance the quantity and quality of in-country research.
“The deliberate efforts to stifle the university have undoubtedly had an enormous impact on Guyana’s development,” the party lamented, while observing that knowledge has become more important in the global economy and the need for quality higher education to generate, impart and utilise knowledge in the wider economy is critical to a nation’s competitiveness.
Saying that UG has had an annual deficit between $200 million and $250 million over the past five years, the party noted that the commencement of the new academic year was delayed for two weeks in part because of the financial crisis that grips the institution and in part due to poor oversight of the institution by the Minister of Education.
It recalled that staff and students had petitioned the Minister of Education and the National Assembly for a new council in April. However, following the expiry of the extended life of the previous Council on June 30, the AFC noted that a new body, containing several of the politically partisan, ineffective members of the previous one, was only appointed by the minister and met for the first time on September 12, 2012.
“Since academic appointments cannot be made without the input of the University Council, numerous appointments are still to be made and many classes have not yet started,” it added, while also pointing out that UG does not currently have a Chancellor or a Vice-Chancellor and the Deputy Vice Chancellor will proceed on end of contract leave shortly.
“In seeking to control all high level appointments at the University, critical posts remain unfilled for lengthy periods to try to facilitate the appointment of PPP sympathisers. This negatively affects the day to day administration and the overall governance of the University,” the party said.
It also said that the US$10 million World Bank loan, which would go into default in one month, has still not been signed notwithstanding assurances by the Minister of Education that it would have been signed by the end of May. “It is clear that the government sees no urgent need to sign the World Bank loan and arrest the deterioration of the University of Guyana,” it added.
