Chancellor of the University of Guyana (UG), Professor Edward Greene has called on the government to honour its pledge to see higher education as not only an expenditure but an investment in human capital.
Greene’s statement, according to a release yesterday from UG was made at the December 14th closed business session of the university.
There was no elaboration on Greene’s statement in the press release but it comes in the backdrop of an announcement by the University of the West Indies (UWI) on November 18 that it was working out an arrangement with the Government of Guyana to train 20,000 Guyanese over the next five years. The announcement by UWI which made no mention of UG was immediately seen as undercutting the commitment to improve conditions at the university here to allow it to be the premier training ground for locals.
The UWI statement had prompted one from UG on November 20 stating that it had “not ceded its mandate”.
UG’s statement said that as the national brain trust, “supplying over 70% of graduates to Guyana and 30% exports”, it wished to assure that it is in preliminary talks on online education and scholarships.
“The national University has not ceded its mandate and responsibilities and UG is now offering more than 1000 courses online as part of `The University of Guyana Blueprint 2040’ strategy framework”, the statement said.
UG added that it also routinely collaborates with over 100 regional and international institutions and recognises the scope for and benefits of a variety of higher education players in the national space. The University, therefore, continues to assist in ensuring these matters are approached “strategically, inclusively and synergistically”, the release added.
“At 57 years old, as Guyana’s oldest institution founded in 1963 before independence, the University of Guyana is the embodiment of a nation’s promise. UG will continue to work towards fulfilling that promise with all progressive entities in the best interest of our University, faculty, students and people of our beloved country”, the University added.
Since the UWI announcement, the government here has not provided any details about the proposed arrangement with UG although Minister of Education Priya Manickchand on November 22nd sought to mollify concerns that UG would be undermined by the planned UWI training.
She told Stabroek News that the plan to train at least 20,000 persons here is by no means bypassing UG but is aimed at providing online tertiary education for the many who lobbied for it.
“In fact, it is the opposite, UG is going to be improved, it is going to be developed and added to. This is an addition to what exists right now and not an attempt to replace anything. Like I said, we are in touch with several different universities which can provide the training we are looking for and we can offer that to different groups,” she added.
UG said that on December 14 at the closed business session, Greene also called on stakeholders within the private sector, UG’s alumni, and partners in Guyana and in the diaspora, to view UG’s journey as one that is worthy of their support in various ways including contributing to internships, bursaries, fellowships, and endowments or, at least, their goodwill.
UG said that the Chancellor highlighted that a number of international partnerships had been initiated with universities in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia in the United States of America.
At the regional level, there were also recent discussions between the Vice-Chancellors of the University of the West Indies and University of Guyana to establish a UWI-UG Bridge to Higher Education. This initial discussion, the release said, will be intensified on mutually agreed project priorities that will conform to UG’s Blue Print 2040 and UWI’s Triple A Global Strategy.
