The UG fees situation

Aug 02, 2014 Editorial

The news that the University of Guyana will be introducing an increase in new student fees has been met with some consternation among students and some lecturers at the premier institution of tertiary education. Subsumed within the US$1,000 annual fee which equates to roughly $210,000 in local currency is what has been described as a facilities fee of G$50,000.
We are told that the added revenue will be used to create new facilities. One would therefore hope that the proposed facilities fees when introduced will have a salutary impact on the amenities and other environmental conditions that columnist Freddie Kissoon has been lamenting about these past two decades.
Glib statements will not cut it, and certainly should not be allowed to go unchecked if students and their lecturers continue to subject themselves to a situation that will not be tolerated in any modern university in the Third World.
The point needs to be made that the tuition fees charged for a tertiary level education are for those students who gain admission to university and do not necessarily target those who can afford to pay. At the more enlightened institutions the relatively affluent but less scholastically endowed are more likely to be refused acceptance.
But what do the increased fees say about not only students’ ability to pay, but also their expectations with regard to promised improvements, and those relationships to their academic performance?
It is no secret that in the current scheme of things students will have greater expectations of UG especially now that they are required to pay more for their education. However, the empirical evidence suggests that those expectations will be much greater that our university’s ability to meet them.
Students will expect that UG will keep its promises about the contact hours that a lecturer must meet, and that the institution will ensure that the adequate level of supervision of postgraduate students is maintained.
In these days of increasing stress the time has come for the university to provide the kind of professional services that will address several types of sensitive personal difficult circumstances students will face, occasioned by illness, financial constraints, unhealthy eating habits, and lack of physical exercise.
With constant peer pressure the potential for alcohol abuse and risky sexual behaviours are likely to increase thereby putting students’ mental health in jeopardy.
A mature student deciding to enter university is likely to place more emphasis on examining the pros and cons of that decision since he/she will be competing with younger persons who – if prior job experience is not a requirement, are more than likely to have an advantage in securing a position.
Students should be made to feel that they are getting value for their money in course delivery, and therefore serious effort should be made to invest in updated texts, laboratories, lecture theatres, innovative teaching methods, more professional services and comfortable classroom accommodation.
All students will naturally expect that UG meets clearly identifiable benchmarks which reflect attention to inter alia: technology and physical environment; course scheduling and structure; administrative staff support and engagement; and lecturers’ knowledge and their attitude towards students.
Complaints about insufficient research material for literature review can be addressed by ensuring that there is better coordination between academic staff and library staff about the availability and accessibility of resources.
Academics should avoid imposing their choice of reference texts when recommending course materials to students. Some intellectually lazy UG lecturers have been known to demand that their students’ essays must feature their favourite thinker(s) or risk being downgraded.
Another contentious aspect of UG life which must be revised is the practice lecturers have of failing to provide feedback in a timely manner while at the same time refusing to inform students about their course grades prior to exams.
The university administration should as a matter of urgency put in place a standardised approach to confront the thorny issue of inconsistency in lecturer feedback. This would demonstrate a willingness on the university’s part to be responsive to that particular students’ concern. ‘

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The UG fees situation

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