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UG to offer online degree programmes from September – VC
A historic and rather novel feature is slated to be introduced at the University of Guyana (UG) when the new academic year commences in September. The move, according to Vice Chancellor, Professor Jacob Opadeyi, will see students from across the country being able to undertake degree programmes without “setting a foot” on either of the tertiary institution’s campuses.
UG has campuses at Turkeyen, East Coast Demerara, and Tain in Corentyne, Berbice. However, with the offering of online degree programmes, Professor Opadeyi said that students will not be obligated to venture unto the campuses to be tutored.
Vice Chancellor of the University of Guyana, Professor Opadeyi
Through this newest feature, students will, for now, be able to access four Bachelors of Sciences (BSc.) programmes in the areas of Psychology and Criminology; Mathematics and Physics; Computer Sciences and Information Technology and Environmental Management and Technology. “We plan to enrol at least 200 students for these online programmes which mean if I am living in Sand Creek or Lethem, or wherever I am, I can do my degree without coming to Region Four,” explained Professor Opadeyi.
Although the University has already received applications for the online programme, the Vice Chancellor was yesterday unable to disclose how many have been accepted thus far. He noted too that while the programmes are ready to be offered, the University is still working towards further promoting them.
In addition to having a specifically outlined tuition fee, the online programme will see each student being afforded a laptop computer and/or other information technology devices to be able to efficiently undertake their programme of choice.
The devices made available to the students, Professor Opadeyi said, will come as part of the tuition fee package. “Our students must be acute in the area of information technology because each of them will have a laptop…so you can’t say I don’t want it because all of your assignments have to be typed, emailed, everything will be electronic …,” added the Vice Chancellor.
But according to him, in addition to students having a keen interest in the area of information technology, “we need very good internet connections for us to be able to deliver on this because that is the future of the University.” As such he expressed gratitude for the recent corporate support from the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T) which will bolster the University’s efforts to improve its internet access and by extension its delivery of information technology and related programmes. “We are very grateful, we have this starting point and it is very important for us,” said Professor Opadeyi of the $60 million endowment that was committed to the University by GT&T.
The support, the Vice Chancellor said, will also help the University in its quest to introduce virtual classrooms whereby students at the Berbice campus will be able to virtually attend a classroom at the Turkeyen campus and vice versa.
The virtual classroom feature is expected to begin in September too. “We have to take full advantage of technology, among other things, to reduce the cost of our operation,” said the Vice Chancellor.
According to Professor Opadeyi who assumed the position of Vice Chancellor just over a year ago, he was rather saddened when he learned that students had to pay to access internet services while at the Turkeyen campus. It is his view that “internet service should be like “oxygen…so that when students get on campus the whole campus has WIFI and they don’t have to be paying and subscribing to that service.” Professor Opadeyi vocalised his belief too that “teaching without internet today is dead.”
Speaking directly to the importance of internet access too, GT&T’s Public Relations Officer, Nadia DeAbreu, said that for the past year students at the University have been enjoying free WIFI services from GT&T, an undertaking that is still in the testing phase.
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