Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL) scholarship awardees who were deregistered from the University of the West Indies (UWI) due to their inability to attend classes will be given an opportunity to be part of their programmes during the upcoming semester.
According to a letter published in the September 4th edition of Stabroek News titled `De-registered GOAL students will be given an opportunity to be part of their specific programmes,’ GOAL said that the awardees who are having issues with their student account and were deregistered from their specific programme will be able to take part in the programme during the next semester.
The letter explained that GOAL’s scholarship programme commenced on July 26 and that the University’s Open Campus has an attendance regulation and students are encouraged to familiarise themselves with the policy. GOAL further explained that “the awardees who were unable to attend classes for four consecutive weeks are no longer considered active Open Campus students. However, the deregistration policy is in no way an indication that the GOAL scholarship has been withdrawn. Students who are on the deregistration list will be given an opportunity to be part of their specific programme when it is offered by UWI during its upcoming semester.”
GOAL’s response came following another letter published in Friday’s edition of the Stabroek News titled, “Can someone at GOAL or UWI Open Campus offer clarity on our deregistration?” signed J. Williams. In the letter, the writer explained that they had been awarded a scholarship by GOAL to do a certificate in Wedding Planning and Decoration at the University of West Indies Open Campus. However, after not being able to access the student account and numerous attempts to get clarification on the situation from GOAL, Williams subsequently received an email from UWI which stated that Williams would be deregistered from the course on August 30, 2021. This was because Williams hadn’t attended any of the virtual classes since the course commenced in July.
According to Williams, all attempts to elicit assistance were unsuccessful and that attempts were later made to contact the GOAL programme support team. Again, to no avail. In its letter, GOAL said it does not have a landline, however, awardees are advised to send all queries and clarifications to UWI Vocational Programmes via email to dionne.suecox@goal. edu.gy, or info@goal.edu.gy, or via WhatsApp on telephone numbers 687-6331/643-7783 or by direct messaging on GOAL’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/GuyanaOnlineAcademyofLearning.
