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Bring more programmes to the B’ce Campus

May 03, 2010 Letters

Dear Editor,

I write with the utmost support to Mr. Ameer Bacchus’s letter in Kaieteur News (02-05-10) about English being done as a discipline at the University of Guyana Berbice Campus (UGBC).

Myself, like his daughter, graduated with a distinction in the language at the CSEC exams in 2000. I applied to the university last year to pursue a Certificate in Education in English, but several weeks after my application was virtually un-updated, I had to switch to Social Studies recognising that the English programme would not have been done anyway.

I, too, am a product of the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE), of which I am an English major graduate. I am currently pursuing Social Studies at UGBC and am very disappointed that many others like me cannot further studies in a discipline which we love and cherish ever since we were students in high school.

I am hearing through the grapevine that talks are going on at the moment of a possibility of offering the programme from September 2010. I hope that talk is indeed taking place. I hope there are persons fighting our causes on campus. I hope, too, that many of us already pursuing the Social Studies programme can switch with little or no repercussions come September 2010, when and if the English programme comes in full-swing.

I believe in the hard- working faculty of the language arena at UGBC that this will become a reality soon.

Finally, I am not satisfied with the University of Guyana revising its marking schemes with regards to giving A’s and B’s and other grades. The university is now revisiting its criteria before lecturers assign a grade, in that, it has employed stricter guidelines for lecturers to follow before assigning the much sought-after A’s and B’s at the university.

I believe many persons are struggling with the use of their language, and thus, this is wreaking havoc with their writing especially during the final examinations. There are Standard English courses university students must complete and this includes the ENG 115 course. I believe this is not enough to reshape language skills of students.

It is quite ironic that all of this is happening (with the grading system) when the university is reluctant (as it has been over the past years) to offer higher studies in English. Isn’t this what one would call preparing someone with only half of what is really needed? Yes, it is because if people are coming out with English for CXC and graduating by majoring in English at CPCE, only to find out that Berbicians cannot access higher learning in the language in their region, then that, to me, is preparing someone halfway with only half of the qualifications.

Maybe now is as good a time as any to reintroduce (and to introduce to some extent) the many language programmes being offered at the main campus to students who wish to pursue same. If the quality of language skills is to be lifted, the university must be prepared to go the extra mile to cater for the needs of all students — all!

The campus in Berbice will be celebrating its 10th anniversary later this year. While the reflection is being done, has much been accomplished with regards to offering more courses and programmes as the sister campus in Turkeyen has been offering? If Agricultural Science, Maths and Information Technology are being done at Berbice Campus, then what about the English Language? It is about time that the BA and BSc programmes in English commence. Bring more programmes to the Berbice Campus. Invest in Berbicians and you will see the results and impact on intellectual and academic empowerment and development.

Leon Suseran

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