UG needs Govt. support to help garner int’l funds – former lecturer

Oct 13, 2016 News

An enormous sum is required to manage institutions such as the University of Guyana (UG). This assertion was recently amplified by Kaieteur News columnist, Frederick Kissoon, during an interview.

Former UG lecturer, Frederick Kissoon

Kissoon, a former UG lecturer, has weighed-in on recent reports that the university has been embracing unprecedented moves to solicit much needed funds.
Reports suggest that a 14-member team of the tertiary institution recently travelled overseas to reach out to Guyanese in the Diaspora in a fundraising quest. It is alleged that the funds spent to facilitate this trip far outweighed what was garnered.
Kissoon has regarded the recent trip as “inelegant and shapeless.”
“First of all, the Guyanese Diaspora is too financially weak…the total global Diaspora of Guyanese is too financially weak to contribute to any foreign money that would significantly impact Guyana,” said Kissoon.
The most fitting help that the Guyanese Diaspora can offer is in the areas of skills and not money, he added. “We don’t have very, very rich Guyanese out there…one and two have made it but by comparative standards they cannot fork out a US$1 million and give it to UG. The simple fact is that Guyanese have done well with skills and high class jobs but not in the area of entrepreneurial wealth,” the former lecturer asserted.
He is of the firm view that “if you are taking 14 people to the Guyanese Diaspora you cannot realise the kind of money UG needs like that.”
Raising money for UG, Kissoon has determined, requires what he calls a “two-pronged attack”.
And this tactic, according to him, calls for the involvement of not only the Vice Chancellor (VC) of the University, Professor Ivelaw Griffith, but even Head of State, President David Granger. “Those are very, very high level people to whom rich and wealthy humanitarians will listen and it has to be a ‘one to one’ dialogue. The Vice Chancellor or the President can even engage a very wealthy institute that gives money for education,” asserted Kissoon.
He stressed the need for the involvement of the two officials. He shared his belief that the appointment of a Deputy Vice Chancellor to deal with international engagements would not suffice.
“Those (humanitarians) aren’t going to sit down with a Deputy Vice Chancellor to discuss giving their money; they want to at least see the Minister of Education for this country and they want to see the Vice Chancellor in that room negotiating with them,” said Kissoon.
He summed up that if Professor Griffith hopes to raise substantial funds for the university he would have to start by reaching out to Government.
“What the VC needs to do is have engagements with Cabinet about who in the Government will partner him for an assault on the international lending community and private funding agencies,” said Kissoon, as he considered that a US$1million could easily be utilised in two laboratories of the university.
There are however some individuals who are of the view that the local private sector could play a major role in helping with the development of the university. But Kissoon shared his belief that “the private sector has serious reservations about UG and how it has been managed for the past 20 years. They are very skeptical about pouring money into an institution that they feel hasn’t got vision and leadership.”
While Kissoon does not condemn this mindset of the private sector, he said, “I don’t know about Professor Griffith and therefore, I don’t want to condemn him, but all the VCs that went by and the type of Councils we have had they were not impressive enough to get the local private sector to put (significant) money into UG.”
Kissoon has also speculated that any forthcoming support from the private sector may not be directed towards the overall benefit of the university.
“They would want to see the university excel in marketing, in business and in scientific areas like sea defence and agriculture…” said Kissoon as he considered that financial support from the University may not be nearly enough to achieve the goals that UG is aiming to realise.
“The Vice Chancellor alone has targeted about $6 billion from the treasury and that is a modest sum. You can’t run a hospital or a national university with top class equipment with $1million from the private sector…those are two areas of national life in a country that call for enormous resources,” Kissoon emphasised.
The University is looking to Government for in excess of $5 billion in the new financial year to support its plans which include the spending of $3 billion for recurrent expenditure and $2.2 billion for capital works.
Among the priorities of the administration are increased salaries for academic and non-academic staff, the provision of basic supplies and facilities that have been undermining efficiency and morale for years, campus security, and improving several of the facilities that negatively impact health and safety as well as security.
But Kissoon has asserted that the University should first address its “topsy-turvy” administration structure and look to Government to help its fundraising efforts. He has highlighted that the current administration of the university is overstaffed when the university student and employee populations are taken into consideration.