A re-evaluation of the University of Guyana (UG), its needs and strengths, is set to begin today when its Transformational Task Force (TTF) meets for the first time.
Set up by the UG Council, the TTF is expected to initiate a process to “reconstruct and reposition” the university to allow for the opportunity to achieve a “level of excellence necessary to propel the growth and development of Guyana,” Chancellor Dr Nigel Harris said yesterday at a press briefing in the Education Lecture Theatre at UG.
The chancellor noted that over the years the university has produced a large number of graduates who play important roles in all sectors of society, here as well as internationally. However, it continues to be recognized that UG needs to upgrade its standards if it is to achieve “all that is necessary to contribute to the growth and development of Guyana,” he noted.
It is therefore essential to pause and re-evaluate the major issues that must be addressed in order for the university to better serve the needs of Guyana. This, he said, is where the TTF comes in.
Harris acknowledged that the university faces a number of chronic challenges that have not been addressed adequately.
As a result, the terms of reference of the TTF speaks to a number of issues highlighted over the years, including staff remuneration, governance, adequacy of facilities, infrastructural support and lagging information and technology systems. In addition, the qualifications of academic and non-academic staff and the lack of opportunities for staff development are also to be reviewed.
Although these issues have already been recognized and spoken of often in the last few decades, the problem remains that very few of the recommendations made have been followed through, Harris said.
Consequently, the terms of reference specifically target the review of previous studies that were done to assess the university in the last two decades. The TTF will also receive presentations by past and present administrators and key stakeholder representatives—government, private sector and civil society—on the perceived state of the university and its needs. At the end the TTF will make a determination of the key issues facing the university; establish five or six key priorities to be addressed; and make recommendations on addressing the priority areas and how best to mobilize resources and community support for the change.
Harris said the TTF comes at what he believes to be a “moment of opportunity”; an opportunity that came with the change of government.
Offering clarity, he explained that he is not inferring that one government has better knowledge and ideas than another, but rather that “moments of change are moments of opportunity to look at institutions within the society… to really come to terms again as to where those institutions are, what issues they face and how one can in fact mobilize the sort of resources to address those matters.
“I think it is a moment of opportunity because the private sector and other friends of the university, people in the Diaspora, other institutions in the Caribbean that align with the university have also found at this moment of change that they themselves want to become reengaged with the society and with the university.”
It was noted that tertiary education is a central player in any modern society in terms of determining the competitiveness of a society.
“If a significant percentage of your workers are not highly knowledgeable or highly skilled, then your ability to compete in a world driven by technology is going to be very, very limited,” Harris noted.
Thus, it is imperative for all sectors of Guyana to come together to “look at this university, look at what it is that confronts us and then commit to identifying the means, the resources to address this problem.” It is his view that while UG will have to play a big part in offering solutions, such should not be the sole responsibility of the university or even the government. “With the best will in the world, government subventions alone cannot pay for, cannot resource all the sorts of changes that this university requires.”
Instead, government can “recreate an environment and can create strategies by which other sectors might better contribute to the university,” he added.
He noted that the private sector stands to benefit greatly from UG as graduates form a large sector of its resource and means of moving to the next level.
Therefore, the task force will include representatives from all sectors of Guyana and several from abroad who have had long experience in academia.
The TTF has 31 members: 22 from the UG council; four from the private sector and civil society and five from the regional and international community.
Presentations will be made by stakeholders such as Major General Rtd Joe Singh, Advisor at the Ministry of the Presidency; Dr Oudho Homenauth, Head of the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute and Dr Hector Butts, Finance Secretary at the Ministry of Finance.
The chancellor noted that all members of the TTF will be serving on a voluntary basis, while the cost attached to forming the task force was within capacity of UG’s budget. However, he was unable to give an estimate of the total cost. It was further explained that the task force is not going to be a permanent fixture, since at the end of deliberations and hearings, a report containing recommendations will be handed over to the council which would have the responsibility of implementing recommendations within two months. Ultimately, some members of the task force would be selected to work along with the council in implementing the recommendations.
The proposed allocation to the university in the presentation of the 2016 budget, the chancellor said, was an acknowledgement that the university requires resources. However, he expressed the hope that the government understands that it is just a start to offset short-term goals of the university, while adding that subventions alone are not going to offer any significant changes.
Therefore, government should adopt other strategies to source funding. “All over the world universities have grown tremendously and have gotten beyond the ability of governments to finance them,” he explained.
During the budget presentation, the proposed allocation to UG was placed at $3.2 billion with an additional $500 million in subvention.
The first session of the TTF is expected to be opened formally today by Minister of Education Dr Rupert Roopnaraine and the Chancellor at the Arthur Chung Convention Centre, Liliendaal. This initial meeting will end on Saturday.
