Latest update February 9th, 2025 1:59 PM
Latest News
- Gunmen rob money changer at America Street
- Couple dies in fire at Hydronie, EBE
- “Oil-rich Guyana is worse off from the very start”- Glenn Lall
- Terrence Campbell to remain member of oil money Investment Committee despite transparency concerns in use of revenues
- Trump freezes aid to South Africa amid spat over land expropriation law
Infrastructural upgrade for UG within six months
Rehabilitation works on a number of buildings at the University of Guyana are slated to commence during the course of the new academic year, which is set to commence next month.
This move, according to Vice Chancellor of the institution, Professor Jacob Opadeyi, will be funded by the World Bank and will cater to some infrastructural concerns.
“Within six months we are going to see some action,” said the VC, who noted that already contractors for the project are being identified. 
Additionally, he disclosed that efforts are being made to source portable offices as well as classrooms, which will be utilised while renovation works are ongoing. And should the need for further space arise, Professor Opadeyi noted that talks have been had with officials at the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) to possibly facilitate evening classes there too. Moreover, a footpath is slated to be constructed to facilitate easy passage for lecturers and students between the two institutions.
Funding for the rehabilitation, according to the Vice Chancellor, has been secured through a World Bank loan of US$10 million. In fact the funding was made available to the University following a collaborative move between the World Bank and the Ministry of Education to execute a Science and Technology Support project.
The project, which was officially launched earlier this year, is set to be conducted over a five-year period and will cater to the development of facilities in four Faculties within the University – Agriculture and Forestry, Natural Sciences, Technology and the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences.
Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences, Dr Emanuel Cummings, disclosed that under the project efforts will be made to ensure that there is curriculum development as it relates to the support of the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS). He noted too that while there were many delays ahead of the realisation of the project, “I am certain that nothing happens before its time and I think this is the opportune time…”
The project is taking full effect even as the University celebrates 50 years of existence this year, and is expected to help strengthen the University as a regional institution.
“We are all proud of the achievements of the University and we are all certain that this fund that will develop these Faculties in terms of curriculum development, capacity building and research also will help the university achieve its mandate in improving the quality, not only of the students, but the staff to deliver quality education,” Dr Cummings asserted.
According to Pro Chancellor, Dr Prem Misir, “we at the University of Guyana welcome this World Bank partnership and this has come pretty much through the auspices of the Government of Guyana.”
The loan, he explained, represents a new era of the University’s growth even as he pointed to its manifest implications for national development as it “vividly brings into play the relationship between climate change and biodiversity.”
And support for the project, which is expected to be both challenging and exciting in its implementation, will be sustained by the World Bank, according to the Bank’s Representative, Ms Hongyu Yang.
The project is being implemented on the basis of three defined components, with component one focusing on education quality improvement which will be undertaken at a cost of US$1.9 million. Component two will cater to infrastructure rehabilitation which will attract US$6.2 million, while component three will address institutional capacity to the tune of some US$1.8 million.
Similar Articles
THE BLUNT OF THE DAY
Sports
Features/Columnists
You cannot borrow your way to prosperity
Peeping Tom… Kaieteur News-The Jagdeo Doctrine is an absurd, reckless, and fundamentally shortsighted economic fallacy.... more
OAS Secretary General Election and renewed OAS Consensus
Antiguan Barbudan Ambassador to the United States, Sir Ronald Sanders By Sir Ronald Sanders Kaieteur News- The upcoming election... more
Weekend Cartoon
