The Government and UG cannot treat graduates like this

Nov 19, 2016 Letters

Dear Editor,
I read with interest, regarded with satisfaction interspersed with awe regarding the 50th convocation of the University of Guyana held at its Turkeyen campus. Amidst staff, special invitees and well-wishers 1628 students received their various certificates, degrees and diplomas, followed by a verbal repast of exhortations by the keynote speaker, Dr. Vincent Adams, representative of being among the first batch of students graduating from the University with a degree in Civil Engineering. In his address, the speaker urged the graduands to put their acquired skill, knowledge, vision and innovation to good use by investing in the productivity and progress of their homeland. Ironically Dr. Adams is currently based in the U.S.A employed as a Field Manager by the U.S Department of Energy.
Of further irony is the fact that the day previous to the graduation the newspaper and media carried reports about the plight of 23 trained Medex. Following graduation from the said University of Guyana, and in addition forced to undergo a completion date extended by one year; they were yet to be employed. Compounding their career demise is the fact that they had all signed contracts with the Guyana Government via the Ministry of Public Health Service, under the assurance that they would be assigned to various health centres throughout the ten regions. Notably compounding the ongoing trauma of these unemployed professionals is their reported claim of an inability to reach the respective Ministers by telephone, due to the denial of an audience by the secretaries without at minimum proffering a rationale.
Graduation speeches and the call to give back to your country and your alma mater, must be matched with visible action, otherwise it becomes mere rhetoric. In today’s world the Darwinian phrase “survival of the fittest” applies, and humans will seek avenues that would best assure and maintain their survival, even if that avenue terminates at the portal of an iron bird. Even the divine entities are aware and know that Guyana cannot afford a further brain drain. Now that the government has irrigated the minds of these young people, then it behooves them to act responsibly in order to cultivate a receptive environment. Speaking in politically correct terms, I say” CREATE BEFORE THEY GRADUATE.” I am calling on both the government and the University authorities to ponder on the following: Growing Unemployment Yet Accepting New Admissions.
Yvonne Sam

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