Dear Editor,
This is 2014 and the University of Guyana still cannot get its act together. I am very discouraged and I appeal to the University of Guyana Students Society (UGSS) and other bodies and personnel to do something.
Many times, students want to meet a particular person and that person is never in and no one knows when and where and how to get on to that person. I remind all that it is vital information that students, especially first year ones, are seeking. It is so frustrating.
The issue of registration, even at this stage (first week of classes and the year of 2014) is most mind-boggling. Online registration still has so many hiccups at UG. This cannot be the same elsewhere. I doubt that very much. I notice too that some programmes and courses are being initiated online. If UG cannot handle something as simple and basic as the registration of students, I cannot see how online studies will be accomplished.
Guess what too? Grades are still not settled and this is where a lot of dissatisfaction comes in. Grades are needed to complete course selections. What a shame a new semester and year can start and the insertion of grades has not been finalized.
I add to this the fact that when it comes to electricity and internet services, we are very sporadic. UG still suffers from internet cut-off and black-outs and many homes still cannot access the internet. If and when there are internet cafes, these help to some extent, but the price is too demanding for a few hours of work.
I go back to the One Laptop per Family (OLPF) scenario, and it would have been nice, if university students could have been given one, even if a small fee was exacted. We seem to be forgetting that infrastructurally and technologically, we are not quite on par with Caricom countries. A selected few can boast great wealth, but to make moves based on this kind of thing is terribly wrong.
Right now, many of the buildings are not conducive to learning; they are hot, stuffy, dusty and littered. This takes me to the litter and garbage situation. There are many stray animals, namely dogs and cats, which roam the campus and create havoc. This kind of thing should be fixed.
I close by asking that UG do the appropriate thing. Life in Guyana is limited in a number of ways and we have to embrace these limitations and make the best of our situation. We need a clean and comfortable campus, and adequate electricity and internet services across the country.
I now call on the UGSS to make some representation to the incumbent Vice-Chancellor, who seems bent on acting as though UG is on par with other universities.
Yours faithfully,
(Name and address provided)
