Mistreatment of students at the Guyana School of Agriculture

Jul 22, 2016 Letters

---

Dear Editor,
I must first commend Mr. Paul John on his very informative letter dated July 15, 2016 but I would like to point out that Mr. John, even though he mentioned about the Guyana School of Agriculture, he failed to mention what goes on with students.
Yes he may have gotten information about staff being mistreated by the administration but what about mistreatment that the students have been facing and are facing at the hands of the same administration?
Mr. John, I would really like to hear something about that in your next letter.
I am an outgoing student, thank goodness I’m about to graduate and come out of that hell whole. I don’t even want to go to the graduation but considering after going through hell and high waters at the hands of the administration, I might as well go and get my well-deserved reward.
After spending two years of my life there it seems as it is Guyana Slavery Association instead of Guyana School of Agriculture. You get worked out on the farms, especially the livestock and crop farms and if you talk for your rights you are victimized.
Mr. John, did your source inform you that students are treated very unfairly? Did they inform you that several students were suspended or even expelled without any proper evidence brought to the administration? Did they inform you that there was an incident where a few of my colleagues were beaten as was reported in this newspaper a few months ago?
Imagine being run around a village, beaten with cutlass and other tools, being forced to hideout in somebody’s fowl pen until the next morning just to save your life? Think about the trauma that goes with that, then to get suspended by the institution for breaking the rules.
Talking about breaking the rules, these guys are so rigid that there seems to be no room for reasoning. Everywhere has rules and that’s good but there is a curfew in place that is almost impossible to keep up with. Students have to be in by 19:00 after leaving classes at around 15:45 hours and many times have assignments to do that require research. Yes there is a library, with a set of outdated books and also internet that is probably 0.5 or 1G. It is so slow and the amount of students that have to compete for it makes it absolutely frustrating.
To ease the frustration some students go home or to some internet café in Georgetown just to get their assignments done and because of the transportation issues they get back late. Some choose to jump the fence to avoid security which will ultimately report them to higher authorities.
But apparently when students go out it is seen as they went to copulate or involve in some heinous activity even though adults go to the institution and some are married.
Mr. Editor, It would be good for Mr. John to be informed that three of my female colleagues were suspected of having an inappropriate relationship; management expelled one, asked one to return in a year and the other was suspended for a period and now should complete the course.
Imagine a parent struggling to find money to send their child to the institution then, someone suspects your child to be lesbian or homosexual, with no proof and they just expel your child.
Of course they told the parents all sorts of nonsense to turn them against their child. One mother repeatedly slapped and used all sorts of abusive words and tones at her daughter in public because of the information she received. She did not even find out from her daughter. What a shame?
I admire the courage of my colleague though; she came back and completed her course which took some guts.
Mr. Editor, the turmoil of the students is exceedingly great. I have had my full share and I really hope things will change for the new students. How can the students perform well when their colleagues are being mistreated? There was another case where a male student was accused of raping a female student and he was expelled, being a second year student and just having a few more examinations to complete.
Yes, rape is a serious crime and should not be tolerated by anyone but these guys did no proper investigation and just expelled the student. Had they done proper investigations they would have found out that the girl and the guy were having a continuous sexual relationship and she wanted to break off simply because she found a new lover.
Mr. Editor, the worst part of it is that after all of this, the administration chose to lie blatantly to the Minister of Agriculture. Students get updated information too since staff constantly walk around talking and we know that the CEO is a rubberstamp because if we go in for any disciplinary matter, “he jus deh”. I wonder if Mr. Paul John knows about these things, or because we are students we are not counted or worthy to be represented. Our parents and sponsors paid for us so we have rights too.
Amanda B

---

---