UG graduates told…Education key to achieving social justice

Dec 15, 2008 News

---

“Education is the most powerful tool we have in achieving social justice…from that recognition the responsibility arises not to lower standards but to seek out support and nurture talent where it exists.”

This is the notion which was highlighted in an article which was emphatically emphasised by Chief Executive Officer of the Guyana Telephone & Telegraph Company, retired Major General Joe Singh, when he addressed the gathering of the University of Guyana’s 42nd convocation held last Saturday.

Major General (ret’d) Singh further stated that the article, which was published in an edition of the United Kingdom Daily Mail, went on to outline that education is the key to allowing the most talented and hardworking of young people to achieve their full potential, irrespective of what kind of social background they come from or the school they attended.

“This does not mean imposing admission policies on universities, but it does mean universities recognising their full responsibilities in helping to seek out and develop the best talents wherever they are in our society.”

He further pointed out that the article stated that in no modern society should the talent of young or older people be neglected, adding that highly selective institutions that draw from a narrow social base will ultimately lose out if they deny themselves access to talented students from all backgrounds.

However, Major General (ret’d) Singh noted that another dimension which must be factored into such debates is the extent to which international agreements are seeking to influence the way in which universities in the region are responsive to the implementation of those agreements.

“One case in point was highlighted by the Caricom spokesperson on Education, Prime Minister Denzil Douglas of St Kitts and Nevis. Speaking in June 2008 at the then just concluded Caribbean/New York conference, where an MOU was signed, he noted that the USA as the elite competitor in the tertiary education sector, and as a member of the WTO has sought full commitment for market access and national treatment in higher education and other education.”

Moreover, the Major General (ret’d) attempted to outline a vision of a developing Guyana and the opportunities that present themselves among state, private sector and university.

He pointed out that, with the current global economic crisis, persons are left to believe that there will be no dramatic or traumatic impact in the Caribbean, since financial institutions are sufficiently delinked from the foreign financial institutions by regulations.

Nevertheless, he noted that it has been emphasised that contradictory expectations could result in the Caribbean.

But according to Major General (ret’d) Singh, Guyana is a Member of the Caribbean Community. “We have 15 per cent of its 6.3 million population, but 79 per cent of its land mass…We are the only English speaking country in South America, and, given our geo-strategic position, can be the entrepreneur for investment opportunities in Guyana and Northern South America, and the exit port of goods and services to the Caribbean and elsewhere.”

As such, he noted, the infrastructure programme for Northern South America, with its lines of communication, roads, air fields, bridges, ports, hydro-electricity and information technology, promises a degree of connectivity that could allow a real competitive advantage if a critical mass of educated and skilled human resources is developed to exploit fully such comparative advantage.

From a practical standpoint, Major General (ret-d) Singh added, the opening of the Takutu Bridge and the Berbice Bridge, among other developments, would facilitate easier trade movements.

He divulged, too, that the construction of another submarine fibre optic cable link, which is now in the final stage of negotiation, will provide unlimited and affordable bandwidth by early 2010, and will offer great opportunities for movement from the coast to the hinterland.

This movement, he said, is likely to boom following the anticipated development of large scale agriculture, crops and lifestock in the Intermediate Savannahs and agro-industry for food security and market driven opportunities in the Caribbean.

However, he noted that the exploration for petroleum products offshore and onshore and the development of alternative sources of energy based on wind, solar, hydro and bio-fuels create the demand for a whole new raft of skills.

He pointed out, though, that a stable political and socio-economic environment would stimulate foreign investment in the productive and service sectors, even as the sports and entertainment industries will also find opportunities to grow.

“Predicating all of this, of course, is the creation of an enabling environment that encourages Guyanese to see a future in this country and also to influence foreign investors to establish viable economic partnerships that stimulate the economy, offer stable employment and challenge our public and private sectors to work with the training institutions, such as the University of Guyana, to produce the quality of education expertise and research that would ensure the development of an educated, committed and competent workforce on a sustained basis,” the Major General asserted.

---

---