Latest update November 26th, 2024 1:00 AM
Police called in as UG students block gate
Students from the Faculty of Agriculture joined in the ongoing protest action at the University of Guyana. About 15 to 20 students blocked the main entrance at the Turkeyen Campus, prompting several police ranks to intervene.
President of the UGSS, Duane Edwards, yesterday told Kaieteur News that the students were feeling disgusted at the present situations in their faculty and were forced to stage the protest. Edwards said that the issues
which are being protested have once again pointed to the deplorable conditions at the university.
Final year student in the Agriculture Faculty, Bernice Anthony, said that students are faced with major issues there and calls to address these have remained unheeded.
Protesting students of the Agriculture Faculty, UG, yesterday.
Among the grievances is the need for better classrooms and lab rooms with working and proper equipment. She said students do not have proper toilet facilities and have to make do with leaking classrooms, among other things.
Meanwhile, President of the UGSSA, Dr Patsy Francis told Kaieteur News that APNU Leader, David Granger, has been asked for his involvement in taking on the issues faced by the students at the university.
Head of the Presidential Secretariat (HPS) Dr. Roger Luncheon yesterday described what he termed the “spectacle on the University of Guyana campus” as unbelievable.
Dr. Luncheon at his weekly post-Cabinet media briefing at the Office of the President, in referring to the ongoing actions at the University, attributed this to indolence and indulgence on the part of the institution’s administration.
He noted that the members of the UG Council had refrained from speaking about the Freddie Kissoon issue in adherence to the principle of confidentiality governing appointment committee meetings since they believed that the UG administration would have acted.
This failure to act in the face of misinformation and lies, the HPS stated, has led to the view that the UG administration is lacking in resolve to address the behaviour of the ‘extremists’ and in light of this, the Government believes that a more appropriate and forceful reaction by the University administration was and remains clearly needed and anticipated.
“The descent into recklessness by the very elements at the University of Guyana …it is astonishing,” he said. At a previous press briefing Dr. Luncheon had stated that the lack of aggression by the UG administration in dealing with the issue has allowed the matter to be “hijacked by partisan interests” and blown into a veritable protest action.
Kissoon who passed the age of retirement had his contract terminated in January after failing to meet the university policy with regards to retention of academic staff which is based on having a healthy academic record with research and publications reviewed by academic peers and face a competitive process with other applicants.
The 14-member Council did not support his retention hence the termination of his contract. It sparked continuing unrest with students and lecturers alike now calling for better conditions.
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