-following pact among UG, South Rupununi council, village
The University of Guyana (UG) has extended its reach and range with the turning of the sod for a campus in the South Rupununi village of Aishalton.
In a release yesterday, UG announced that it had inked an agreement with the South Rupununi District Council (SRDC) and the Aishalton Village Council for the joint establishment of the Maoka Taawa University of the Forests Campus.
Seven toshaos, along with a number of high-level officials from the 21 villages of the South Rupununi district, regions, as well as officials from UG’s Turkeyen campus, gathered to witness the signing of this “historic and monumental” document and the turning of the sod which officially brought into legal life, the agreement to create the University of Guyana’s Maoka Taawa University of the Forests campus. An event the release described as “a 16-year-old dream of our Indigenous brothers and sisters in the South Rupununi.”
The university which will be located in the shadow of Paint Mountain, will be a blended institution that will serve the 21 communities of the South Rupununi.
Initially, Maoka Taawa University of the Forests will offer courses designed around the specific needs and interests of the residents of the communities. Decisions are guided by data collected from the communities in the South Rupununi, from structured surveys, qualitative interfaces and observational exercises. Based on this data, seven disciplines have been prioritised for early delivery. These are: education, agriculture, environmental sciences, sustainable tourism, medical sciences, sustainable engineering, construction and infrastructure, business, Indigenous knowledges, entrepreneurship and accounting.
The release explained that the phased model which is being developed is based on a small physical footprint and an innovative incremental micro credit academic structure with initial focus on both professions and vocations for livelihoods. Creating opportunities for a better life through education and training of Indigenous people is a key part of the project.
Some 150 students will be accepted from the 254 who have indicated early interest.
According to the release, this joint venture between UG, SRDC, and Aishalton Village Council, is a landmark action since it vests “equal but diverse responsibilities” for the resourcing, management and sustainability of the project in all three signatories. It noted that the Maoka Taawa University of the Forests is likely to be one of the few, if not the only, entity of this type and scope in Guyana, the region, and possibly globally since it is situated on Indigenous titled lands.
Further, this Indigenous university, the release explained, penetrates an underserved and difficult to reach area with an Indigenous population of over 11,000 in 21 villages over a vast and highly dispersed territory. Collectively, the South produces over 600 secondary school graduates a year but less than five per cent move on to higher education. Those who do must often leave their territory for long periods often never to fully return. The geographic location and other social conditions have presented a challenge to higher education and training until now.
Former toshao of Aishalton Village, Michael Thomas, who chaired the proceedings on Saturday, told the packed village benab that SRDC had created a key place for education in its Village Development Plans since 2008 but “had not gotten much traction until about a year ago when a delegation of five toshaos travelled to UG’s Turkeyen campus to float their idea to the university.” Thomas, Kid James, Toshao Ronald, young UG graduate and now toshao, Timoty Williams along with two other toshaos were integral to the recent year-long negotiations with the university through the office of the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Paloma Mohamed-Martin.
Meanwhile, Aishalton toshao, Timoty Williams, remarked that his entire “energy and focus over the past year was to help make this happen along with other key persons. Education is what we have yearned for, we know it’s the key to everything. This is a historic and proud moment for us. I am privileged to be part of it.”
And Professor Mohamed Martin told the gathering, “When they showed up in my office, I could not imagine what five Toshaos could want, but it soon became evident that they were clear. My main contribution was to listen and then to ask one question, `Why a field station, why not a campus?’ And that was it. They basically drove it from there, very fast, through all the processes of navigating village consensus, legal and titling issues. To my team it was a godsent opportunity to really enable UG’s aspirational goal of at least one graduate per household. This is a massively important moment for many reasons. It is one of the universally powerful projects. Minimalist but much good. We will do the best we can for them with the little we have.”
The Investigating Task Force for University of the Forests included Mohamed-Martin; former Director of UG Centre for Biological Diversity, Dr Gyanpriya Maharaj; Director of UG’s Institute for Marine and River Ecologies and Economies, Calvin Bernard; Shevion Sears, Tara Smith, Shomari Williams and Monica Hugh; were in attendance at the ceremony. They were joined by Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Finance and Administration, Dr. Diana Gobin; and Director of UG’s Tactical Online Services Unit, Dr. Malcolm Williams.
