THE role of tertiary education in advancing national development is a pivotal one as institutions of higher learning play a crucial role in training and research, which are fundamental in propelling economic growth.

Arkansas Economic Development Commission Executive Director, Maria Haley puts it succinctly when she addressed university presidents and chancellors: “Your role as universities is absolutely essential to grow the state’s economy.”
Randy Zook, President/CEO of Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce, said Arkansas is fortunate that its economy has been driven by major companies such as Walmart, J.B. Hunt, and Baldor Electric, but he is concerned about the challenges they face, how they will grow, and what new companies will surface over the next 10 years.
“We’re pleased with the product you’re providing, we wish you could provide more, we wish that you could be more strategic in your curriculum to make sure we have a good stream of students coming out of your schools to meet the workforce needs,” Zook told the group.
The number one problem with bringing new business and industry to Arkansas is workforce, Haley said: “Workforce, workforce, workforce! I cannot say enough about how important it is, and we need to focus on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education.”
Indeed universities have an essential role in equipping the workforce with the requisite skills and knowledge so that they will produce at optimum levels. It means therefore that the policies and programmes of universities have to be tailored in harmony with national development objectives rather than being divorced from them.
Our lone university, the brainchild of our late President, Dr Cheddi Jagan, which opened its doors in September 1963 at Queen’s College under the Vice-Chancellorship of the distinguished Professor of Mathematics, Dr Lancelot Hogben has indeed produced many brilliant and capable academicians who have made tremendous contributions to the development of country.
Unfortunately, today all is not well at the University of Guyana (UG) and it is debatable as to whether it is really playing its desired role in the national development process. Of course the decline at this tertiary institution was not an overnight process but rather began a long time ago when many of its top academics were virtually hounded out under the doctrine of paramountcy of the party. In addition, participation in National Service was the preferred requirement for entry to the institution and so the quality of the intake of students was compromised.
One of the most unfortunate features of the decline at UG has been the virtual collapse of the Faculty of Natural Science as a result of an acute shortage of staff and facilities and equipment. This faculty was once most vibrant but today it produces just a handful of science graduates mostly in the field of Biology. This no doubt has had severe adverse impact on science in the secondary schools as the number of students opting for natural science subjects have sharply declined. This is obvious and a logical outcome of the sharp decline of natural science graduates coming out of UG.
In today’s world any university worth its salt must have a vibrant Natural Science faculty because economic development is essentially science/technology driven in this modern era.
Our society is also experiencing some serious social problems such as domestic violence, crime and drug use among others but unfortunately our university has failed to do any comprehensive studies and research into the causes and come up with any credible recommendations of how these problems can be resolved.
The quality of administration and management of the institution also is one of much concern and this undoubtedly has contributed to its problems and decline.
However, on a positive note it has been revealed that infrastructural development of 19 buildings on the University of Guyana Turkeyen Campus is slated to commence in January next year as part of the institution’s Science and Technology Support Project (UGSTSP) which was launched in January this year with a US$10M World Bank soft loan.
This is a good start to arrest the decline and restoring UG to its days of glory, however, it is equally important to simultaneously deal with the issue of adequate staffing and administration and management as improving infrastructure will not suffice.