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It’s sad to say this, but UG seems dead

Jun 27, 2013 Letters

 

Dear Editor,
I read with interest about the continued decline of the University of Guyana. There are strikes, quarrels, allegations of sexual abuse, inappropriate language used by lecturers in classrooms, numerous thefts on the Turkeyen Campus and very little evidence of meaningful research and publication. Don’t talk about the state of the buildings.
We are reading now about delayed salaries, and non-payments from UG to NIS, GRA, Pension Plans, and so on. This place has gone from bad to worse to worst. If there is any kind of honesty, we will admit that UG is a completely failed enterprise, but there is no confession to this. Confession takes honesty, right?
Over the last five years or so, there have been several acting vice chancellors and then two more Vice Chancellors: Dr. Carrington and Dr. Opadeyi, both non-Guyanese and both imported from UWI in Trinidad. I do not know by what method these erstwhile gentlemen were chosen to “save” UG. What I do know is that nothing has come out of their coming. Are the challenges there too much for these gentlemen?
According to a recent German world ranking of Universities, St. Augustine was ranked 1,437, Mona in Jamaica was ranked 2,058 and Cave Hill was ranked 2,744 in the world. Not good at all for them, one must admit. But where is UG ranked? UG is ranked 6,549 in the world and has the dubious honour of being the “only National University not to be ranked in the top 1000 universities”. Great going, guys.
I saw the most recent VC on TV saying that American Universities are not ranked and there is no accreditation! Hogwash!  Fact: UG is too broke to function. Fact: there has been no workable plan to make the place financially efficient. Talk does not do it.
But, let’s keep talking money. GPL gets (or got) a partial subvention from Government (read Taxpayer!). GuySuCo got bail out money from Government. And politicians squeal about mismanagement, waste, incompetence, and so on. Heads have to roll, they say. Maybe they are right, maybe not. But the money from government is partial, and these institutions are important national money-earners and are essential to life in Guyana.
Over the last few months, great attention was paid to the salaries, and rightly so, of the big guys at GuySuCo and GPL. UG is no better than GPL and GuySuCo. Tell us exactly how much the top officials earn, and what they are doing to deserve what they are getting.
When GPL does not work, we the people feel it directly. When GuySuCo does not work, we the people feel the impact immediately. So there is much justified noise and worry.
UG is different. We all know that UG has been failing for almost three decades. We also know that UG is fully funded by the Government (read taxpayers, again!). But there are no squeals from anyone. Does anyone see that UG must be run properly or else we are endangering whole generations of Guyanese? Is anyone held accountable?
It could be that there are no noises because the impact of a failed UG is not felt immediately. Lights will not go out as in the case of GPL. But with UG lives will go out.
It could also be that the UG people do not hold themselves accountable to taxpayers who pay their salaries. UG seems to be above the people who keep the place from being taken to the funeral parlour.
What about the Berbice Campus? Has anyone noticed that for eight months now, nothing positive has been heard about or from them? Mr. Daizal Samad, the Director, is back—but still nothing. Why? Has he been finally silenced or has he simply given up? Over the past five years, we had weekly news about the things done at UGBC—now there is nothing but silence.
J. Mark London

 

 

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