The government is hailing its Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL) scholarship programme a success and indicative of its commitment to upskilling Guyanese in tertiary education, especially women and youths in rural and hinterland areas.
In a release on Friday, the Department of Public Information reported on the Ministry of Public Service year-end press conference hosted by Minister Sonia Parag (now Minister of Local Government) where she spoke on the programme.
Since its inception in 2021, some 21,442 persons from the ten administrative regions have been awarded scholarships with 15,442 being women. And for 2023, 400 Guyanese gained access to higher education with 50 per cent of them being women.
Giving a breakdown by region, 246 scholarships were awarded to persons in Region One, 885 in Region Two, 1,111 in Region Three, 2,988 in Region Four, 431 in Region Five, 877 in Region Six, 284 in Region Seven, 381 in Region Eight, 162 in Region Nine, while 349 scholarships were awarded to persons in Region 10.
Already, over 3,000 persons have completed their education through the GOAL programme.
Meanwhile, for 2023, 15 persons in Region One were awarded government scholarships while 34 were awarded in Region Two, 56 in Region Three, 142 in Region Four, 23 in Region Five, 42 from Region Six and 19 from Region Seven. One person from Region Eight received a scholarship while two persons from Region Nine and 20 persons from Region 10 were granted the opportunity to pursue a tertiary education. Guyanese were also provided the opportunity to study in Cuba, Russia and China.
According to the release, the disabled community was not overlooked with five persons living with disabilities also provided with scholarships. “We ensure that we granted them scholarship in a way in which they would be able to have jobs when they’re finished. The Ministry of Public Service revamped its training division to accommodate persons with disabilities such as putting in ramps and all of that. We created a smart-classroom where we can train persons in a very modern way,” Parag highlighted.
She also noted that it is within the ministry’s mandate to provide Guyanese with an opportunity to accomplish tertiary education, especially to meet the demand in the public service.
The minister reminded that the concept of GOAL was a manifesto promise. “That programme was a manifesto promise based on the fact that we believe we needed to bridge the gap across the country for offering persons a tertiary education, an opportunity to have a tertiary education,” the minister recalled.
Parag also said the government strategically made all the scholarships courses online, allowing employed persons to conveniently pursue a tertiary education.
“We didn’t just throw something there … it was thought out strategically. Online scholarship, why? Because we knew that so many people are working. So many people cannot come from the hinterland to Georgetown. They cannot come from a rural area to Georgetown … We made all the scholarships online, so that you will have the convenience of doing so and being able to accomplish a degree ….”
