Representatives of the President’s College Old Students Association (PCOSA) Local Chapter, Ms Sharon Boxhill-Dillion and Reinetta Persaud (left and right respectively of Education Minister, Mr Shaik Baksh. At extreme right is PCOSA New York member, Mr Toussaint Boyce. (Photo by Adrian Narine)

THE President’s College Old Students Association (PCOSA) group in New York has planned a number of initiatives to reinvigorate the local association and the various chapters around the world.

PCOSA New York representative, Toussaint Boyce, who recently visited Education Minister, Mr Shaik Baksh to discuss the plan, told the Guyana Chronicle that the aim of the move is to improve the physical infrastructure of the College, as well as enhance the lives of the present and future generation of students.

Boyce, who was accompanied by Ms Sharon Boxhill-Dillion and Reinetta Persaud of the local chapter, along with Chairman of the President’s College Board of Directors, Mr David De Groot, said during the course of the meeting, Minister Baksh was updated on the progress that has been made so far both locally and overseas with regard to their plans.

He said that notably, the New York chapter will be hosting a gala reunion next August to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the founding of the premier institution, and that Minister Baksh has been invited to address the function.

“We believe that as alumni, our love for country and our love for college is significant enough to not ignore. We are in the process of mobilising our talent to not only celebrate the 25th anniversary of President’s College in 2010, but to also ensure that we give back.

“It’s all about giving back: It is not about us, it’s about the school.

“It has been 25 years now since President’s College has been in existence. We believe that it is a significant milestone for us to be mobalised as an alumni to ensure that we make a significant, positive impact on the college, the current student alumni and the country as a whole,” the former President’s College student said, while at the same time acknowledging the resounding support he has received from both the school and the minister in the pursuit of his quest.

The initiatives for the revitalizing of the college, he said, range from the donation of books, to the planning of the grand reunion, and the widening of the alumni base in the US and other countries the world over.

Boyce pointed out that the various alumni are concerned about the current state of the college, and have been actively involved in raising revenues to improve the situation.

He said the extent to which the various alumni can bond is critical, as this will not only ensure infrastructural rehabilitation, but the preservation of the college as well.

“In our days,” Boyce said, “we were able to benefit from activities from the farm; we were able to benefit from a very broad-based curriculum, which included 21 subjects … everything from metal work, wood work, electronics, mathematics and science.”

“We would like to see some of that return to President’s College and the current students in the form of a very broad based and rich curriculum,” he added

President’s College was opened in 1985, and was the first boarding school in Guyana at the time, and the only secondary school to use a more comprehensive and selective application process.

The school was founded by the late President of Guyana, Mr Forbes Burnham, who launched the project in 1983 but died before it was completed and the school officially opened.

Potential students were selected from the top two per cent of candidates who were successful at the then Secondary School Entrance Examination (SSEE), and subjected to an evaluation process which included being interviewed by a panel of school personnel.

The School’s admission policy has, however, since changed and students are allowed to transfer into President’s College, with preference being given to those in remote areas.