Cuban scholarship deception

Nov 29, 2011 Letters

Dear Editor,
My father would always say, “Hit the nail on the head and witness the results after”. As a boy growing up, I have applied this principle to most aspects of my life and have counseled a host of young people on how and when to strike the nail.
Recently, one of my closest friends was entrapped in a predicament with the Public Service Ministry (PSM). He is a prudent lad returning from Cuba with an Engineering Degree and now working for one of the Government ministries.
His story echoes a thousand voices in all directions and from all walks of professional life in Guyana.
He explained that he is severely underpaid by the Ministry and that he cannot understand why.
He has a five-year work contract with the Government of Guyana and although he raised concerns about his salary, the Ministry unleashed a plethora of contract clauses that silenced him and soon after he conceded to the contractual agreement.
This lad claimed that they even threatened him with termination of his agreement and repayment of millions of dollars.
Isn’t studying in Cuba free? As far as I recalled, Cuba offers free scholarship to many nations in exchange for better bilateral relations, trade agreements, etc.
So far, there are hundreds if not thousands of graduates returning from Cuba with first degrees in medicine and various engineering fields and most of them are dissatisfied with the job arrangement that the Government imposed on them.
For my curiosity, I engaged quite a number of these graduates on Facebook with analytical questions.
Their responses would usually shock me to the core. Most of them would claim that they are entrapped in this country for a period of five years and if they wish to take a vacation to lovely Barbados or any other country, they will have to deposit $4M to the Public Service Ministry as surety. The surety I can understand but why so much? What was the real worth of the Government Funded Scholarship?
According to the medical graduates they would have to repay the Government approximately US$60,000 if they decided to through in the towel and migrate to some other country.
The engineers claimed about US$50,000. How PSM came up with such a figure is an unsolved mystery. This cost is ridiculously overwhelming and the people who conjured up such values are either scoundrels or very poor in accounts and economics.
Some of the graduates declared that they haven’t received their degree titles as yet and that the government would normally issue these titles after one year of their return to Guyana. Some were waiting for nearly two years. Why is the Government imposing such strict measures in containment of these graduates from Cuba?
We all know the answer to this modest question but can anyone figure out why graduates would want to migrate from our wonderful country in the first place?
If my predictions are correct, by 2017, a grand fraction of our professional population will be severely affected due to migration.
Most of our young professionals are Cuban-trained and this population was hand-picked by the government to develop our nation. However, most of them are eagerly counting down the time for the termination of their contract agreement and their eminent voyage to greener pastures.
The Government is fully aware of this and thus seeks to impose these esoteric restrictions on the graduates.
We all know how difficult it is to acquire a job in Guyana and even the graduates from the University of Guyana seek to migrate to the islands in the Caribbean. Let’s face it …everyone wants to be prosperous in this life and the sacrifices that these graduates made deserve to be highly recognized by the Government and their achievements should be acknowledged as a turning point in the reframing and reforming of Guyana’s future. The government should start thinking of the long-term effects and implications that would result in massive migration of our young professionals.
Government needs to reconstruct and discover new incentive schemes and discerning rumination packages that will attract and hopefully encourage these professionals to reside in Guyana and engage in the development of our great nation.
Government is obviously optimistic that most of these professionals would somehow “blend in” with the Guyanese trend and remain within the confines of Guyana, but this is a basic thinking disorder.
Sooner or later, most if not all, will discover that they can earn 100 times more in other countries situated in the Caribbean and migrate to these locations without looking back on the land they left behind.
Is this what we want? If this is what the President envisaged, when he acquired the scholarships from the Cuban Government and other countries, then so be it.
The next President will simply have the esteem privilege to pursue another 1000 scholarships from some other country within the next six years to replenish the exhausted professional population.
If this doesn’t hit the nail on its head then I will simply have to buy a new hammer.
Mark Tiwari

8 thoughts on “Cuban scholarship deception”

Bismattie_Ramsawak November 30, 2011 at 4:09 am

This student was educated at tax payers expense, even thought it was a scholarship the Guyana government came out of pocket for expenses. He therefore is obligated both financially and morally to work off that indebtedness before moving on to a lucrative career.

Stop the whining.
1. lron November 30, 2011 at 6:43 pm
  
  that is shortsighted a person should not be looking to “work off” anything in their homeland, if they are treated with respect the time wouldn’t even matter. If people keep moving on then you will alwayshave a hole to fill (no progress, Guyana remains the sad pitiful state it is in comparison to its Caribbean neighbors, but at least we r rated above Haiti (hooray!!!!!!!!)
2. Slone_daniels November 30, 2011 at 9:47 pm
  
  There are two options that the fella has; one is work for the five years and the other is pay back the government and move on. I believe that the first option should be the right choice IF THE CONDITIONS WILL EMPOWER AND ENCOURAGE HIM TO REMAIN IN GUYANA AFTER THE 5 YEARS ARE UP. The second option i believe is an oppressive burden that is truly outrageous. The cost that is. There are students who migrate to other countries without paying. Good for them. Also, i think Bismattie has tunnel vision and doesn’t know how to manage people or rather doesn’t have the ability to become a leader someday. A president should know that it is more profitable to invest profoundly in the professional workforce sector so as to guarantee that these professionals will remain in Guyana and not migrate to other countries, ever. Proper incentives are need for these professionals. Bismattie, please look past your nose and try to understand that Guyana need these professionals to remain here.
Joe Owen November 30, 2011 at 9:47 am

The biggest sacrifice these students made, and not many Guyanese are aware of this, are surviving the horrendous conditions in Cuba. The food is terrible, the students are hardly served meat products and internet access is restricted to just an hour or two for the entire dormitory. Lights are switched off early at night, thus preventing students from studying late. They are up early the next morning to their usual breakfast of a small bread roll, which most times is stale. The fact that they survived the conditions above warrants the government to release them of their contracts.
amorb November 30, 2011 at 6:53 pm

You seem to be blaming this government for the contracts they make with the students. I was in the same predicament 40 years ago with the same conditions and a different government and a different study country. So thank the government for the scholarship and things will improve. As regards salary, they should be paid the same as graduates in their category otherwise go to the PSU.
1. Slone_daniels November 30, 2011 at 9:15 pm
  
  I am sorry to inform you that 40 years ago the scholarship agreements were very different than today. Living conditions, stipend and overall treatment to students were different. When i say different i mean better–far better as compared to the world today. These days government try to cut every last corner to save a penny and scholarship students are always faced with the penalties and struggles. Also, i did some investigation of my own and it is true that certain engineering career students (computer engineering for example) are being given “the raw end of the deal”. The president would always emphasize on television that Guyana is moving into the technological age and my question is; who are the persons that would be responsible to develop Guyana into a technology driven nation? Of course the computer engineers and scientists. I say treat these professionals well and you are guaranteed their stay and contribution to this new development in Guyana. Treat them as if they are expendable and you will get poor results in work performance and some may seek other side jobs (just to make ends meet) within the five year contract agreement. I know how the government works.
  
  I fully support the message in the letter and would encourage the government to take heed so as to maintain and secure the future young professional workforce in Guyana.
Tristan Nelson November 30, 2011 at 9:00 pm

the problem iz that when these engineers get back most of them are place in jobs that r usually a waste of time n does not offer anythin meaning full. they need jobs that fit they profession
Narendra Sukhdeo November 30, 2011 at 11:27 pm

I do not think members of the public are aware of some of the atrocities that the Cuban Scholarship gratuates face…while studying in Cuba and also after returning home. I will give a few personal examples. During the year 2008 I had wanted to come home for Xmas but was denied but the Guyanese government. Can anyone imagine that? Why would the PSM do such a thing? I was a model student, never got into any problems and I maintained a high GPA. I personally spoke to a representative from PSM and they told me that they would not give me permission ¨because of because.¨ Another problem that we face that PSM does not understand the fields of study that some of us have undertaken. When I graduated, I was the first Guyanese graduate in my field and when I returned home I was placed in an entirely different field. I tried hopelessly to change, writing several times to PSM, translating my course outline, explaing to them that I was placed incorrently..but to no avail. On a phone conversation with another PSM representitive I was told that I had to remain there and no explanation has to be given out why. Can anyone understand this? Can anyone expect any loyalty from us after being treated like this?