Dear Editor,
Despite residence overseas, I have more than a tepid interest in the state of affairs back home. Guyana is often the land of the paradoxical, the intriguing and the unprecedented, and it typically entrances the gaze of its diaspora. Such is my experience when a relative of mine was denied his academic transcript of record from the Cyril Potter College of Education.
An official at the institution provided a written response for the denial:
“Mr. xxx needs to liquidate his contract before the transcript is prepared. He breached his UG contract therefore he is indebted to the Government of Guyana.”
Let me hasten to concur with this official that the state ought to be recompensed for all arrears, not just financial, but also civic.
My interest in this matter is not animated by claims of financial delinquency, because as a Guyanese I am aware of how nuanced the issue of repayment of student loans can be. For instance, some are debarred from boarding airplanes to destinations that can facilitate the very repayment of their loans, while others with similar debts, are granted immunity by way of mysterious benediction. This notwithstanding, my relative has a post-graduation service record with the Government of Guyana which justly requires acknowledgement before any verdict of liability. Thus, what interests me is the larger, overarching concern: Can a tertiary public educational institution, such as the CPCE, legally withhold a student’s transcript of record?
The stated text bears the authoritative posturing of a legal expert, and since I am outwitted by jurisprudence, I entreat enlightenment of any legislator or legal mind, about the legal precedents or statutes in this country that sanction the withholding of a student’s academic transcript for alleged breach of contract. Now, I am fully aware that teachers still indebted to the Ministry of Education usually have their final certificates withheld, but does the same practice prevail as in the case of their academic transcripts? Even in the hypothetical case of alleged liability, can the Government of Guyana, through the Ministry of Education, deny a student a transcript of record?
In a different jurisdiction, such as New Jersey, as in the case of Fayman v Trustees of Burlington College, the court ruled that non-payment of tuition should result in non-issuance of the student transcript.
The opposite was true in the case of McKee v Southfield School where the Court of Appeal of Louisiana granted injunctive relief to the student. Notably these judgments were rendered in the case of private institutions, and, as stated, in a different legal domain. So with such contradictory outcomes, our different legal jurisdiction, and the involvement of public tertiary institutions, does the written contention have legal merit?
Other questions arise as I consider this official’s dictum. If by being indebted to the Government of Guyana, my relative, like other students, is to be denied academic transcripts, then why has this relative received transcripts from the University of Guyana in the past? Why are the University of Guyana and the Guyana School of Agriculture currently processing his remaining transcripts? Why this inconsistency, and within this continuum of public tertiary institutions, which of these institutions is in breach of regulations governing the issuance of academic transcripts?
This official, and his employer, the Ministry of Education, must know that withholding a transcript essentially denies a student acceptance into other educational institutions. Whether the credential is a teacher’s certificate or not is inconsequential; the gravity of the outcome is what matters: denial of the opportunity for continued self-improvement and social mobility.
So as my relative sits manacled by the questionable policies of his state and its bureaucratic machinery, I develop a greater awareness and appreciation for the diasporic resentment of home ‒ of a Guyana that is trapped in dilatory, stultifying manoeuvres.
Yours faithfully,
Romain Khan
Editor’s note
We are sending a copy of this letter to Ms Delma Nedd, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education for any comment she might wish to make.
