The GOAL Scholarship launch is ill-conceived

Aug 17, 2021 Letters

Dear Editor,

I am living in a hinterland community and I was a recent recipient of a GOAL scholarship for which I am extremely grateful. I was informed by the Ministry of Public Service via email that myself and all other scholarship awardees across the country would have to attend the official launch of the Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL) scholarship initiative. This was to be held on August 13, 2021 in Georgetown but was subsequently cancelled, with a new date still to be announced. With the COVID-19 pandemic raging, the economy especially in the hinterland very weak at the moment, hinterland roads are in a terrible state, current airfares from hinterland locations to Georgetown through the roof and exorbitant rates being charged for hotel rooms in Georgetown, many of us in the hinterland will be hard pressed to attend the launch of the GOAL programme whenever it is held.
I did a review of the number of people from the hinterland who had gotten through with scholarships and the numbers are as follows: Region One with 233; Region Seven with 233; Region Eight with 91; and Region Nine with 225. Would it not make more administrative, economical and logistical sense if the GOAL programme was launched separately at select centralised locations in each of the hinterland regions identified above? This would negate the necessity of us having to travel to Georgetown, allow for better interaction with staff from GOAL, minimise the risk of contracting COVID-19, and allow the management of the GOAL programme to have a better understanding of the challenges unique to the hinterland. Let’s face it, a gathering of six thousand students in Georgetown on a single day for the launch as is currently being envisaged by the Ministry of Public Service makes for mass confusion, higher risk of exposure to COVID-19, unresolved student issues and general frustration. I am kindly asking if some consideration is given to us the students in the hinterland.
Yours truly,
Concerned Hinterland Student

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