Emphasizing that the government has “worked” to make education at Guyana’s premier university free, Education Minister Priya Manickchand has adverted to concerns about the institution offering “value for money”.
Responding to questions about a proposed $14 billion, two and a half times the allocated sum in 2023 being sought for the tertiary learning institution in the 2025 budget to cover expenses at both the Tain and Turkeyen campuses, Manickchand stated that the government has already “openly” spoken to the University’s Vice Chancellor Professor Paloma Mohamed Martin on what is being offered.
“Making the University of Guyana free has been something the government worked on, looked at, and wanted to do. We also have, which we have openly spoken to the Vice Chancellor about, we have to look at efficiency at a university too. So it’s not just what you get, it’s how you spend what you get and whether we’re getting full value for money”, she told the ministry’s end of year press conference on Friday. She stated that she has received several reports about some classes being fully online, hence reducing the University to an online one, and with some classes starting at the end of the semester. Classes at the University are being offered in a hybrid mode.
“You have people in this room, and again I’ll keep my eyes on you, who have complained that they have not been able to go to a single in-person class, that late in the term classes had not even begun. I don’t think the university has not been examining itself. I believe they have because I have had those conversations with the Vice Chancellor and I think they have also been looking at ways they can make improvements and I know they try very hard to accommodate students given their own limitations and so on”, Manickchand added.
She stated that when the abolition of tuition fees was first announced by the President, the University had need to request $1.2 billion to cover its operational costs.
“Last year when the University of Guyana said because of our November announcement, they were $1.2 billion dollars short of what they needed to finish the six weeks in the year we gave it without hesitation”, Manickchand noted.
In an address to Parliament in October last year, President Irfaan Ali announced the abolition of tuition fees at the university from January this year, a move which the University said it supports.
It said in a statement that “it welcomes and supports quality free tuition at the University and wherever else it can be sustainably offered. The statement noted that in support of government’s generous promises of free tuition, UG has extended itself for the past four years by allowing thousands of students to attend and successfully complete their studies without fully paying fees.
However, it was quick to point out that revenue from fees cover more than 50 per cent of UG’s operating expenses and are always “desperately needed” towards the end of the year.
