UNIVERSITY of Guyana (UG) Registrar Mr. Vincent Alexander said, last week,  that the institution is looking at the matter of internal level funding for UG but has also engaged the Government in discussions. He had been asked about the issue among education sector and political arena stakeholders, which was raised, again, last Wednesday, at the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GM&SA) luncheon where the main address was by People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) Presidential Candidate, retired Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Brigadier David Granger.

The ex-Army officer contended that, if not properly funded, UG will be unable to perform its tertiary level role efficiently.

However, Education Minister Shaik Baksh maintained that the Government  is committed to improving UG and is willing to put more financing into it, contingent on an acceptable strategic plan.

He pointed out that the Government’s contribution has been increasing and, last year, it was $1.1 billion and, this year, $1.218 billion, eight per cent more. Additionally, the subvention has seen a marked rise, from $686M in 2010 to $707M this year.
Baksh said while the Government, as the principal stakeholder, will continue to support UG, it would have to take certain necessary steps to make progress with its proposed strategic plan.
The 2009-2012 proposal was submitted in March last year but, subsequent to its review, Cabinet cited 19 concerns, all of which were raised with the UG administration.

RECOMMENDATIONS
Three of those included recommendations that:
* UG should consider means by which the preponderance of social science registration can lead to a rebalancing of its programmes;
* the campus should consider a radical shift towards distance mode and Information Technology (IT) delivery, as a primary rather than a supporting type of tertiary education, and
* UG should begin to plan for its long term future and the nation which should be, significantly, different from what obtains at present.
In light of the fact that Cabinet did not entirely accept its plan, UG was given the opportunity to revise it with a view to incorporating the concerns that were expressed.
To date, though, the Education Ministry has not received any amended plan but the Government has already given approval for UG to proceed with the implementation of certain aspects, which did not require the outlay of financial resources, such as increasing managerial and operational efficiencies, Baksh said.
The Education Minister also declared that UG being underfunded is not a matter of Government’s lack of commitment.