UG can explore admitting only a quota of students to each degree program

Sep 23, 2013 Letters

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Dear Editor,
Please see below a slight variation of a letter I wrote (emailed) to Ms. Manickchand with reference to my admission to University of Guyana and the fees that I am being forced to pay.
The Plight of non-resident Guyanese-University of Guyana: An open letter to Minister of Education Priya Manickchand.

Dear Minister Manickchand:
I have just received admittance to the University of Guyana to pursue a Bachelor of Social Science Degree in International Relations.
I’ve also received my invoice which indicates that my payment for each school year is US$3048.75. I find this quite alarming because I am a Guyanese national. Not only that, but this rate is significantly close to that which my non-national counterpart will be paying for a degree at the University, i.e US$4000.
I am aware of the University’s policy that states that in order to benefit from the local rate offered to Guyanese students, one must have resided in the country two years prior to the start of the degree program at the University.
While I see the obvious concern, where persons who may have been living abroad would take advantage of the affordable education and leave immediately after, causing severe brain drain, and also the apparent fact that the University is low on funds and so needs to maximize on its tuition fees, what I don’t understand is why a more suitable approach was not taken to combat this issue.
Firstly there is the option of bonding non-resident Guyanese for two years after they have completed their degree programme so as to ensure that they work in and contribute to the country’s economy for a minimum of two years. Bonding is quite simple; all that is necessary is an agreement which the students will be mandated to sign prior to the start of the school year.
This will serve as an incentive for non-residents to return to Guyana to obtain their University education and it secures a new set of individuals for the work force every two years. The onus will be on the Government of Guyana to find areas of employment to place these workers.
An ideal situation is where the Government can identify specific sectors that need help and filter individuals into those sectors. In some instances these graduates can help to create new job opportunities for the Guyanese population.
If there is a concern about having too many students in one particular area, then the University can explore admitting only a quota of students to each degree program under this special agreement.
After the two years, I can guarantee that some non-resident Guyanese will remain in the country, as well as, inevitably some will migrate.
The second option is reducing the non-resident fee to one that is more suitable, and is not comparable with the non-national fee. I can tell you personally, I was offered a place at the University of the
West Indies and I declined it for a place at the University of Guyana but now I am wondering if I made the right choice because of the high fees I am being charged and poor service I am being offered in return.
This brings me to my final suggestion: raising the non-national fees. US$4000 is significantly lower than what Guyanese and other international students pay at the University of the West Indies-US$55,000 and other universities.
Now I know that the University of Guyana is not as well known or as highly regarded as UWI and you do not want to run the risk of alienating foreign students, however, if you were to improve on the University’s efficiency (including processing applications in a timely manner, upgrading the classrooms and aesthetics at the university, employing more lecturers, new furniture and investing in staff training), and improving on the overall student experience, you could quite easily add US$1000 or US$2000 to the non-national tuition fee without a concern.
It is still comparable with the rates of other universities and so affordable, it still beckons international students to come. What the University of Guyana also needs to do is work on its Public Relations. Do you know how many Caribbean nationals do not know that the University exists? Far too many.
Additionally, the University should work on its welcoming session for new students. Perhaps they should set up a two-day celebration, including cultural performances and an opportunity for new students to see certain areas of Guyana and sample Guyanese cuisine just before the first semester begins. Also, if there are no gym facilities on Campus, the University should really invest in this area.  Further, the University of Guyana opens its application process too late, therefore, the admissions staff is not given enough time to process applications in a timely matter. I had to wait several months before the university even updated my online profile to state that my documents were submitted. To date, there are still students whose admission status still says ‘pending’ when we are in the 4th week of school. If a proper admission period was set such as November 1st of the previous year to January 31st of the upcoming school year, as is the case for many other universities, there would be more than enough time to have all documents processed in time for the start of the first semester in August, with more than enough time to re-open admissions in May to facilitate late registrations.
It is small manageable improvements such as these that encourage persons to attend particular schools. I have given it a lot of thought and I have many ideas on ways to improve the University of Guyana.
Finally, I want you to know that I am a Guyanese national first and always. It just so happens that my parents migrated when I was a child and I was taken with them. I had no choice in the matter. Now that I am older, I have made it my business to visit Guyana when I can afford to do so. I saw the opportunity of returning to Guyana for school initially, and then for work as a good way to come home and make my contribution to society and I can guarantee that I will be an asset to Guyana just as I have been one to my previous country of residence.
It is disheartening when Guyanese nationals such as myself are treated like we don’t belong to Guyana. I am a non-national elsewhere and now I am being made to feel like one in Guyana. I cannot be a non-national everywhere, I have to belong to somewhere. Since my navel string is buried in Berbice and my passport says Republic of Guyana, you and I both know where I belong.
Guyana is the only country that treats its non-residents with such distaste. In other countries it doesn’t even matter where you were born or where you reside, as long as you obtain citizenship and you have that country’s passport, you are entitled to all the privileges available to their citizens.
Guyana has let me down, the University of Guyana and by extension the Ministry of Education and the Government of Guyana have let me down. I sincerely hope that some sort of agreement can be reached between us before I make my final decision on which school to attend and migrate for school on the 22nd of August. You will not only be assisting me to finance my future, but you will be securing a future for Guyana through its nationals all over the world.
Concerned Guyanese National

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